Articles: Introduction and Selection
Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow-creatures is amusing in itself.
James Anthony Froude
While researching videos for my blog I stumbled upon the
shocking video below of the slaughter of wild hog referred to as hunting.
Warning: This video contains images of the shooting of wild hog that many people will find upsetting – if you don’t please
ask yourself why not?
This is a difficult and shocking video to watch for many people including myself. You do not need to watch more than a few moments to get the gist of what is happening. I could not complete watching this video, it was just too painful. It is absolutely appalling that modern nations allow such barbarity.
Though Google translator is of course not accurate and leaves much to be desired it is obvious that most of the comments are sickening also.
Someone questions why the commenter who complained was watching in the first place. Maybe because You Tube now introduce a continuous stream of videos after the one you have selected, and if you don’t happen to cancel and leave your computer for a while you may well find you return to some really shocking footage, often only vaguely related if at all to the video you originally choose.
It shocks me in the extreme that there are those among us who get pleasure from the murder of helpless and defenceless animals and moreover such people have no shame or conscience and delight in showing off their cruelty and that You Tube are happy to allow such scenes of wanton animal abuse to be accessed from their website. Furthermore it is shocking that in the modern world that there is no single country that outlaws entirely the hunting and killing of the other species with whom we share this world in the name of “Sport”.
Here in the UK in August and October the hunting season for many animals is in full swing with grouse shooting commencing on August 12th and pheasant shooting on October 1st… and of course many creatures such as rabbits can be killed at any time. Millions of lives lost to satisfy the perverted and sickening pleasure of a minority, though if you noticed the number of viewers of the above video, which is over 4 million, it does seem that it is more than just a few who at least enjoy vicariously the “thrill” of the hunt by watching these vile videos.
Not only do countries the world over refuse to ban all forms of hunting many politicians such as here in the UK desperately try to overturn laws that prohibit certain types of hunting, most notably fox-hunting. It took eighty years to get this evil “sport” banned yet Cameron and many of his ilk desperately continue their quest to get this barbarous form of hunting reinstated.
We will never have a peaceful world while we allow others to kill non human animals. The killing of other creatures is a desensitizing process taking those so inclined closer to taking the life of a human being, not to imply that a non human animal’s life is less valuable. Quite the contrary, to my way of thinking all life is of value, the life of any animal is important to that animal as our lives are important to us, and that includes insects and other tiny creatures. To wantonly kill any animal for sheer pleasure is barbaric and should have no place in modern societies.
Time to end hunting, all hunting. It is not about taking away freedom, it about what is right. No one should be free to harm anyone else whether the victim is a human or a non human animal.
Consider the following quotation from Peter Singer, an Australian moral philosopher most well known for his book Animal Liberation.
“In an earlier stage of our development most human groups held to a tribal ethic. Members of the tribe were protected, but people of other tribes could be robbed or killed as one pleased. Gradually the circle of protection expanded, but as recently as 150 years ago we did not include blacks. So African human beings could be captured, shipped to America and sold. In Australia white settlers regarded Aborigines as a pest and hunted them down, much as kangaroos are hunted down today. Just as we have progressed beyond the blatantly racist ethic of the era of slavery and colonialism, so we must now progress beyond the speciesist ethic of the era of factory farming, of the use of animals as mere research tools, of whaling, seal hunting, kangaroo slaughter and the destruction of wilderness. We must take the final step in expanding the circle of ethics.”
Peter Singer
When will we ever take this final step. It does though sadly have to be said that it is uncertain that we “… have entirely progressed beyond the blatantly racist ethic of the era of slavery and colonialism..” though significant improvement has been achieved. Nonetheless racism continues to blight our moral progress.
Concerning the final step, speciesism ,the banning of hunting worldwide would be significant progress.
There appears to be no international organisation whose goal is to ban all forms of hunting outright worldwide. Here in the UK the League Against Cruel Sports is dedicated to getting rid of hunting here in the UK and also targets campaigns worldwide.
Why not click the link below and see how you can help
The League is a charity that brings together people who want to stop cruelty to animals in the name of sport.
Established in 1924, we successfully use lawful investigations, campaigning and lobbying to make a difference in the UK and around the world.
http://www.league.org.uk/our-campaigns/hunting-with-dogs?gclid=CObjk-e1o8gCFcN92wodNHkMHA
“There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Credit Graphic:
File:Wildboar in Anamalai hills.jpg
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wildboar_in_Anamalai_hills.jpg
Important please note:I am not an animal expert of any kind just your average person who loves animals, all animals, and feels deeply about the plight of many of our fellow creatures. Neither am I a writer, or any other expert. Therefore please keep in mind that the information included in this website has been researched to the best of my ability and any misinformation is quite by accident but of course possible.
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