Hunting
1 of Only 3 Wolf Pairs Killed in Oregon -- For Ranchers, For Us
Published September 08, 2009 @ 07:10AM PT
Some may remember a short post from May titled "Worst Case for Wolves -- And How You May Be Playing a Part." It concluded,
But while we're expressing our outrage at the citizens itching to pull the triggers and the politicians who are allowing it, let's not forget, friends--why is everyone so eager to shoot and kill wolves? For the benefit of ranchers -- and by extension, the benefit of those who eat and wear animals and what comes from them. The killing of wildlife, the further endangerment of endangered species, the destruction and pollution of habitat, the eating and wearing of animals (from the flesh of a cow to the wool of a sheep): it is all connected.
It's worth repeating now that the hunting of wolves is happening in Idaho, now that the hunting of wolves in Montana is just days away, and now that we have this news from the Center for Biological Diversity about the killing of a wolf pair in Oregon, courtesy of the USDA's Wildlife Services -- in a state where there were only three wolf pairs to begin with. The crime committed by these two wolves? Trying to survive, by killing the animals we wanted (but don't need) to kill for ourselves. They killed "livestock" three months ago. So they had to be gunned down. Not because they were doing something unnatural or evil, but because we set up shop in their habitat and because we want to kill and eat and wear sheep and lambs and cows.
All. Connected.
Further reading (off-site): The USDA's War on Wildlife
See also "Gov't Employees Kill Mountain Lions for Sport, Gov't Fires Whistleblower," related to the mass killing of wildlife by the government for animal agribusiness.
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Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Hunting of Wolves and the Fight to Stop It
Published September 02, 2009 @ 06:37AM PT
Hunting wolves hasn't been legal in the contiguous United States in decades. That changed yesterday, when it became legal to kill wolves in Idaho as a result of the wolves' inappropriate delisting. Organizations such as NRDC, Defenders of Wildlife, and Earthjustice are fighting to stop it--and to stop the hunting of wolves in Montana too as of September 15--but it's up to the court at this point. I appreciate the way a New York Times editorial opposing the hunt ended yesterday:
To us, the wolf hunt in Idaho and Montana seems indecent. Hunters want to kill wolves because wolves kill elk — and the human hunters want the elk. A second reason is a love of killing things. A third is an implacable, and unjustified, hostility to the wolf. It is well past time to let gray wolves find their own balance in the Rockies.
Precisely.
And for an insider's look at what's happening in the legal arena as nonprofits present their solid arguments and fight to stop the killings, see "Wolf Delisting Court Battle 2.0" from NRDC's Switchboard. Here is one frustrating (but telling) relay of information, from outside the courtroom:
Have You Spoken for the Cayuga Heights Deer Yet?
Published August 24, 2009 @ 05:53AM PT
Last week, I wrote about the dire situation for deer in Cayuga Heights, a village in Ithaca, New York. The trustees will likely vote on their deadly, cruel, and unnecessary plan tonight. And recall that public comment on the deer situation will be banned at this meeting. If you have not yet e-mailed the trustees and mayor via the online petition, please do so today, remembering also to copy the message and e-mail the trustees whose e-mail addresses appear in the summary leading up to the petition. As noted last week, you may also call (607-257-1238), and at this point, that may be a good idea, but remember to be polite. (And if even if you did read the original post on this, I recommend returning to also read one comment on the post in particular, that written by George Nagle, covering in detail why this plan is ill-advised from a deer management standpoint.)
But New York is far from the only place where deer are regularly killed and threatened with cruel "management" plans--nor is California unique in this regard, but nevertheless, stay tuned later today or tomorrow morning for a look at the planned youth hunt that advocates are battling in a county in that state.
Take Action! Save the Deer of Cayuga Heights
Published August 19, 2009 @ 10:19PM PT
Note: This post has been edited slightly from the original. I initially referred to James as a resident of Cayuga Heights when he is actually a resident of the larger community of Ithaca (of which Cayuga Heights is a part). My apologies for the error.
Inhumane, unnecessary deer-killing programs are in place or under consideration all across this country. But there are a couple in particular that I'm going to write about in the coming days, including, in this post, a proposed plan in Cayuga Heights, NY.
In the last couple days, some of you have surely noticed the petition on this site asking you to speak out against a terrible deer-killing plan in the village of Cayuga Heights in Ithaca, NY--and against the silencing of public comment by the village trustees, in the face of public opposition to the plan. The action summary explains that the reason so many deer are slated to be killed and the survivors traumatized and controlled is that "these human-habituated animals’ appetite for tulips, heirloom tomatoes, and ornamental shrubbery has, in the minds of the current mayor and trustees, created a situation so dire and unacceptable, that action of the most extreme sort is not only justified, but urgently required":
Anti-Whaling Music Video from Heath Ledger and Modest Mouse Released
Published August 04, 2009 @ 09:17PM PT
Apparently, prior to his death last year, Heath Ledger was at work directing a music video with the band Modest Mouse--and not just any run-of-the-mill music video, but a creative animated video intended to raise awareness of the cruel, brutal nature of whaling. And having viewed the video just now--it was released today--I'd argue that it puts out a strong anti-fishing message too (if not a message in opposition to killing animals in general, even if that wasn't the intent; let me know what you think after you've seen it).
From the band's MySpace blog today:
They Loved Her--So They Mutilated and Tormented Her 60+ Times
Published August 04, 2009 @ 02:08PM PT
Normally, when there's a story about someone's death, and the "mourners" are interviewed and quoted, they don't express their grief by lamenting that before her death, they too didn't get a chance to jab a sharp hook through her face, threaten her with suffocation, and terrify her before tossing her aside for the next person to do the same.
But this AP story published in the New York Times isn't about a human, of course. It's about a 25-year-old "celebrity" carp who lived in a lake in Cambridgeshire, England. She is indeed referred to as "she" rather than "it" in this article--and by the name her so-called admirers gave her, Benson--but that's where acknowledgment of her as an actual living being rather than object of amusement stops.
Refuges for Killing and Fishes as Trophies and Tools
Published July 27, 2009 @ 07:57AM PT
A sharp-toothed, large, prehistoric-looking species of fish called the alligator gar made it into two news stories in recent days, both of them concerned with how people can "benefit" from alligator gars, by killing the gars themselves or by using the gars to help them kill other fish species--all, of course, for good clean fun.
I'll comment on the second story in a later post, but first, there's this story out of Missouri, which is bothersome on multiple levels: "Young Alligator Gar recently stocked at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge." A group of 275 young alligator gars has been "stocked" in the so-called refuge because, biologists believe, they will act as scavengers and clean the water of "invertebrates and dead carcasses." But why do state biologists want the gars to fill this role? So that "sport fish" populations will rise. We're not really worried about "a clean and healthy water system," as the Missouri Department of Conservation is cited as saying near the end of the article--our priority is increasing the number of "game fish" so that people can enjoy killing them more often and in greater numbers, and in a refuge:
