RE: Hunters

[MacKenzie, Kerry N.]

Title: Message

Thanks!

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Barb Moermond
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 4:09 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: RE: Hunters

South Dakota and Minnesota.

 

http://www.dontshootthecat.com has links to all sorts of articles etc.

"MacKenzie, Kerry N." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Sally, i believe someone did identify 2 other states earlier this week
that legally CAN hunt cats--I tried to find the email in the archives
but no success so far. Kerry

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 3:29 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: Hunters


I was absolutely astounded by what Tamara had to say about the case of
the
woman being shot by an idiot of a hunter at a bus top and the hunter was
not
held accountable because of the color of the woman's clothing. I do not

remember ever reading about that case and can't believe the hunter was
not held
accountable for his irresponsible actions. Hitting and killing someone
with a
motor vehicle is mansl! aughter, and an automobile is not a weapon
intended for
killing, as is a gun. It would seem some prosecutor was woefully inept,
to say
the least. I surely would like to read what legal points and
authorities were
involved in that case.

I abhor the fact that animals are hunted and killed, period, but I
remember
that both my father and brother hunted deer now and then and my dearest
friend
in the world who was my former riding partner for some years before he
passed
away at age 80, had been an avid hunter in his younger days. He had
grown up
in Minnesota, but I think he did most of his hunting after moving to S.
Calif.
after WWII and would make yearly treks with his horse and mules up into
Utah
and Idaho. I would have to say that they were all responsible hunters
who
were skilled in the use of firearms and did not hunt wantonly and used
the meat
of whatever they did manage to kill. As to whether the id! iots who shoot

mothers at bus stops and will shoot at just about anything that moves
are in the
majority or even just a significant percentage of those who hunt, I have
no
idea...does any organization keep a record of those killed in hunting
"accidents"
by incompetent hunters, or does some animal welfare group keep
statistics on
other animals inadvertantly killed by hunters??

I do know my dear friend was an extremely responsible person where
hunting
was concerned and it was more for the experience of spending a week or
10 days
out in the wilderness with his horse and enjoying the companionship of
friends
that he enjoyed moreso than hunting an animal to kill. He always took
his
camera, as well, and had books full of lovely shots of scenery and
wildlife and
some handsome trophy heads and or antlers on the wall of his office and
he
could remember the trip he made where each one had been hunted. He hada great
respect for animals and the critters he hunted, almost the way the
Native
American hunters of yore are said to have said a prayer for an animal
before they
killed it to thank it for giving its life for their sustenance. As much
as
I've always hated the idea of animals being killed, I did have respect
for my
friend's love for hunting the way he approached it.

On our weekly day-long trail rides that we made with our horses in the
5-6
years before he died, he would amuse me to no end with stories about the

ignorant greenhorn city slickers who sometimes were among their group of
hunters.
Mostly it was tales about their stupidity in not being properly prepared
for an
outing in the wilderness or not knowing how to deal with the
horses/mules,
outdoor cooking mishaps, packing faux pas, encounters with skunks or
porcupines
and whatnot, but I do remember how he told me on more than one occasion
that h! e
had to track down and kill a deer or elk to spare it a slow, agonizing
death
because some other inept hunter had merely wounded it badly and it had
taken
flight.

It would surely be great if before a hunting license was issued, a
person had
to demonstrate that he/she had a decent level of proficiency with
firearms
and had been required to undergo some sort of program to prove they
could
recognize their intended prey and were aware of what responsibility in
hunting with
a dangerous weapon is. Maybe some sort of computer game type test could
be
devised? And just as it is illegal to drive a car or operate a boat
under the
influence of alcohol, it should be a punishable offense to go hunting
with a
gun and drink alcohol at the same time.

When I still lived in a rural area in Washington state, almost every
year
there were instances of farm animals (would you believe white-faced,
hornless
beef c! attle and even black/white spotted dairy cows) and horses out in
pasture
being shot by idiot hunters. If such acts were witnessed, they were
fined for
the destruction of personal property, but few such acts were ever
witnessed. I
don't remember a case of a hunter inadvertantly killing another human
other
than an occasional hunter who was not wearing one of those orange or
bright
yellow vests. In the cases of one hunter shooting another, they were
prosecuted
for manslaughter or wrongful death and found guilty, I believe.
Candidates
for the Darwin Award, for sure...though, sadly, the shooter is the one
who
should be removed from the gene pool rather than the vestless prey,
though I
suppose anyone who would go out hunting in the woods dressed in anything
remotely
the same color as a game animal is also lacking in common sense, to say
the
least.

I shudder to think what will happen to defenseless cats if h! unters are
allowed to hunt them. One can hope that being small, wary and fast may
be a saving
grace of sorts for cats, but so are rabbits and plenty of them get shot.
The
very idea is so ludicrous! If ignorant hunters cannot tell the
difference
between a Hereford steer or a Holstein cow and a deer, elk or moose, how
in the
world can they be expected to notice whether or not an animal as small
as a
domestic cat is wearing a collar or not? And if hunters who
inadvertantly shoot
another human being are not held accountable in some jurisdictions, you
can bet
it will be hard to hold them accountable for inadvertantly shooting and
killing someone's pet cat.

Here's hoping there may yet be some sort of appeal process to reverse
this
abhorrent decision, and that even if feral cats have been declared
"unprotected"
as a species that other ways can be found to stop the hunting. Does
anyone
know if this traves! ty has occurred in any other state?

Sally in San Jose

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Barb+Smoky the House Puma+El Bandito Malito

"My cat the clown: paying no mind to whom he should impress. Merely living his life, doing what pleases him, and making me smile."
- Anonymous

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