blatantninja
Resident Redneck Facist
Well I think it is rather sick (and disturbing) to gain some pleasure from shooting a tame animal in a pen.
Agree 100%.
Well I think it is rather sick (and disturbing) to gain some pleasure from shooting a tame animal in a pen.
Minks and other animals getting skinned alive for fur production,
Not at all - but in the case of a severly endangered species like Lions, ensuring the survival of the species is the top priority, wouldn't you agree? Generally, (especially, but not only) in developing countries, protection works only if you can win the local population to support it, and it helps enormously if you can demonstrate that protection and economic benefit can go hand in hand. I am not saying that this canned hunting thing isn't distatesteful (it is, to me), but I would recommend to think twice before calling to shut it down based on emotional reasons. Where will the Lions go if you shut it down? What will happen on the land they occupied? Etc.
Sout Africa and Namibia have a lot of hunting farms (or at least used to have when we visited there a few decades ago). I know because my dad went hunting there. The ones we visited were not actively breeding wildlife, they just offered hunting trips on their land. I myself always rejected hunting, but nevertheless: If it wouldn't be profitable to have these hunting farms, the farmers would be breeding cattle, sheep or goat there, and drive the wildlife off their land as competiton for food or predators. So the hunting is ultimately protecting wildlife on private land.
If killing is the best we can do…Oh I agree. That is why I mentioned that looking at the actual living conditions is important. Good treatment of animals is an ethical imperative, imho. However, we have long decided to use other living things, from plants over farm animals to wildlife for out own benefit. And it's a simple fact that the pressure of our population, even under best practice (which we are currently far from) is enormous. It's no use pining for what should be - we have to make the best out of what we can do.
My cat was a stray cat, she came to me. When I was on holiday in the south of France.I have a dog, I know absolutely what you are speaking of. But as much as I love him, isn't it the truth that the dog is there because I wanted him, and not because he chose to come to me?
That's cheaper. Plus the hair loses quality when the animal is killed. Makes lower quality brushes.Bit of a tangent, but is there are reason those animals are skinned alive rather than killing them first?
Thanks for the link. I watched the clip - horror!Maybe somewhat relevant to this discussion: The largest population of Tigers is now found in America…
http://worldwildlife.org/stories/more-tigers-in-american-backyards-than-in-the-wild
They can't be abused when extinct.It's better than them becoming extinct, I guess.