The debate of hunting Essay Example for Free

The debate of hunting Essay Even though hunting should not be a sport, hunting helps maintain a healthy herd and promotes land, wildlife conservation. Because without hunting herds will over populate and become sick from starvation or spread disease. Hunters are a major supporter and play a big part in wildlife management. People for many years have debated about, hunting as a sport, or if it is only a means of people shooting at living targets. There can be many that say hunting is a part of American culture, how it benefits animal wildlife and also land conservation. Others say it is just a form of cruelty to animals and there are no benefits in hunting. â€Å"Encouragement of a proper hunting spirit, a proper love of sport, instead of being incompatible with the love of nature and wild things, offering the best guaranty for the preservation of wild things† (Theodore Roosevelt U. S. President). How hunting is cruel and that hunting has no place in the 21st century and is becoming evident by hunters waste and destruction of wildlife. In the past people used hunting as a means of supplying hunters and their families with food. Today animal activist say that hunting is not necessary and has no place in today’s society. â€Å"Hunting is not a sport, in a sport; both sides should know they’re in the game (Paul Rodriguez). In the last hundred years the United States has been going through a transformation out of the necessity to providing food and safety through recreational activity. There was a time when a majority of people lived in rural areas. Since then, the majority live in urban areas and this meant a change in people’s lifestyle. The change in people’s lifestyle brought the need to form organizations to protect animal rights. With this change many new animal rights organizations were formed such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and others to join in protecting wildlife from hunters. Animal activist argue that hunting: â€Å"In all cases, sport hunting inflicts undeniable cruelty- pain, trauma, wounding, and death- on living, sentient creatures. Most civilized and caring people will believe that causing suffering and death is by definition inhumane, regardless of method† (Miller, 2009). Some hunting is for the purpose of who can obtain the biggest trophy. In the 1950s’ an organization named the Humane Society of the United States organized to help in the protection of cruelty to wildlife animals. Therefore, in the 70s’ a group of students from Oxford decided to argue: â€Å"whether the moral status of nonhuman animals was necessarily inferior to that of human beings and whether animals should be entitled to their own basic rights and protection by law† (Laney, 2008 ). Then in the 80s’ many film productions, news articles, books were portraying that all hunters came from low class and uneducated people. Hunters today began to see themselves being portrayed as nothing more than a bunch of rednecks running through the woods with guns and wearing plaid, killing helpless animals. The NRA [National Rifle Association] caps and says in a 2004 New York Times article by a woman who stated â€Å"let’s go out and kill some defenseless animals† (Laney, 2008). Animal activist say that trophy hunting by Americans are responsible for killing tens of thousands of wild animals in other countries. In fact in 1997 the Smithsonian Institution’s received a donation of $20 million from a big game hunter named Kenneth Behring to solicit a permit, to allow the remains of two endangered sheep be allowed to be brought back to the United States under the (ESA) Endangered Species Act to aid in the research, and helping their survival. After they received bad publicity the Institute decided to avoid obtaining the permit. All though many are surprised to find that the facts on how hunting and outdoors sportsmen promote land and wildlife conservation. Hunting for many families has been a way to grow with the outdoors and bond with nature. In the Western societies like the United States and Britain, there is the argument of morals, this makes hunting a focal point for protracted and political debate. An organization named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) also believe that hunters are insensitive and arrogant for participating in hunting described as â€Å"recreational† or â€Å"sporting†. â€Å" Yet many hunters themselves impose entirely different meanings on the hunt, and some, such as the naturalist Paul Shepard, even assign it spiritual significance, construing it as an activity that expresses a deep and profound reverence toward nature andliving things† (MacHalek, 2002). For many hunters of all ages, believe that hunting is a way of relaxation and an educating experience for all to enjoy. Many hunters think that â€Å"Education is lacking when an assumption is made stating hunting is only recreational and leaves damage without good† (Reed, 2008). Hunting is a human activity that in its â€Å"significance by a deceptively simple feature: the evasiveness or resistance exhibited routinely by prey. Because of the behavioral challenges that it presents, hunting has had far-reaching consequences for key aspects of human social, psychological, and cultural life† (MacHalek, 2010). Hunters have for years voiced their opinions to the public on the benefits of hunting. Hunters believe if hunting is banned, herds will over populate and there will be more animals dying of starvation, disease and more people could become involved in an accident with wildlife because of over population. Over population can lead to destruction of crops, the spread of disease, and more people acquiring injures or death in automobile accidents. Here is a picture of what happens when deer wonder out into traffic in search of food or water because there ecosystem can no longer sustain the overcrowding. For every deer that leaves an ecosystem there are two more to take its place. When food is plentiful deer will stay in one square mile. Deer prefer to stay near to where they were born and raised, in the area they know best. When deer refuse to leave their ecosystem or move to another range that has plenty of food, this leads to starvation of animals. Hunting has its educational benefit to the hunter by learning and watching and keeping track of wildlife breeding and migration patterns. â€Å"Therefore, the hunter will not only benefit by his knowledge within his hunt but also an understanding of what animals to harvest when hunting. Sick or deformed animals often give the hunter a sense of sympathy when hunting† (Reed, 2008). By understanding that these animals will probably not take long to die, they could spread the disease to other animals. Hunters help to keep track of where these animals travel and how many are sick. Hunters report these animals to the wildlife society to preserve the rest of the other herds. By addressing this problem at early stages hunters can help produce a healthier environment and aid in breeding a healthier and stronger wildlife. This will make wildlife less prone to starvation and disease. Hunting does not only benefit the hunter but it also benefits wildlife management, hunting is a good tool in wildlife management. President, Roosevelt was responsible for forming programs focused on helping to bring wildlife game back to a healthy level. Hunters benefit the economy in the way that, â€Å"Everyone benefits from the excise taxes that hunters voluntary pay on guns, ammunition and outdoors equipment. Since 1937, hunters have contributed over 4 billion dollars through the Pittman-Robertson Act for the benefit of all wildlife species† (NRA-ILA, 2004). This money is being used to buy up millions of land owned by the public in an effort to sustain wildlife in these areas. Through many other organizations that support wildlife management they have added another $ 300 million for wildlife conservation. â€Å"Hunting contributes over $30 billion to the economy each year, supporting over 1,000,000 jobs† (National Shooting Sports Foundation). Throughout the 50 states hunters and fishermen supply an annual income for the conservation agencies in that state. â€Å"Through license fees and excise taxes on arms and gear, sportsmen contribute $200 million per year for wildlife conservation,† (U. S. Fish Wildlife Service). Through the efforts of hunters and wildlife management the numbers of wildlife has risen, below is a chart that represents the numbers of wildlife species and how game species have recovered in the twentieth century. â€Å" Through legislative programs designed to channel funds back into the conservation process, hunters have restored population of deer, elk, antelope, turkeys and ducks to record numbers† (NRA-ILA, 2004). For years hunters have teamed up with organizations such as: Hunters Sharing the Harvest and Hunters for the Hungry to supply for people in need. One of the oldest hunting organizations, which are the most important to revenue sources named, Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration of 1937 or the Pittman-Robertson Act. This organization is responsible for distributing more than $3. 8 billon to fish and wildlife agencies because it became a law. The members of organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Rifle Association, and hunters, are helping to finance a variety of game management programs. By hunters and organizations like the Wildlife Federation and others they have been the leaders in the way of promoting wildlife and land conservation. These organizations are working with communities to build a better understanding of how they can improve their local economy and how to establish a trust fund. â€Å"To establish an annual income the trust will purchase wildlife to be released in the conservancy, and the conservancy will later pay the trust for any increase in population over the original number of animals† (Burnett , 200). Hunting today has become a means of relaxation and experiencing one with nature. However, a survey conducted in 2006 by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the numbers of hunters are declining because fewer children and teens are learning how to hunt. Despite the demise of hunters because the era of about 12,000 years ago, hunting still has a great deal of significance in many human cultures. â€Å" In A View To a Death in the Morning (1993), Matt Cartmill traces the symbolism and imagery of the hunt from the hunting-gathering era, through the agrarian era, and into modern, industrial times. Cartmill Page 452 (MacHalek, 2010). In 2001 a group formed named , NWCP goal was to team up with National Wildlife Conservation, the goal of this organization is to set the course in the future of wildlife conservation. In setting the course these organizations works together with the President of the United States and congress to face the issues about wildlife conservation and hunting. â€Å"Thirty five hunting and conservation groups have joined NWCP. NRA is a member of the steering committee† (NRA-ILA, 2004). Hunting will be a subject that will be up for debate for years to come by many organizations. Animal activist believe that there is no place for hunting in the 20th, century. Hunters believe that without hunting wildlife will over populate and destroy valuable crops and have a devastating effect on their ecosystem. Over population will also lead to wildlife moving into urban neighborhoods and there will be more animal related accidents causing injuries and deaths to humans. Hunters are the leaders in wildlife and land conservation. Hunting is a vital tool for the preservation of all wildlife species and land conservation. Therefore â€Å"Knowing the history of hunting in the United States is important for understanding the diverse points of view surrounding this controversial subject† (Laney, 2008) . These views will probably will never see eye to eye,† If humans are, in fact, possessed of an evolved psychology that derives from a hunting-gathering past, it can not been determined if this evolved psychology and the contours of modernity are somehow reconcilable or rather, are fundamentally incommensurable† (MacHalek, 2010). References Burnett, H. S. (2001, November 12). Ideas Changing the World. Retrieved from http://www.ncpa. org/pub/ba377 Laney, D. (2008). Introduction to Hunting: Opposing Viewpoints. Retrieved from http://find. galegroup. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/gps/infomark. do? contentSet=GSRCtype=retrievetabId=T001prodId=IPSdocId=EJ3010504101source=galesrcprod=OVRCuserGroupName=uphoenixversion=1. 0 Miller, D. A. (2009). Sport Hunting Should Be Banned. Retrieved from http://find galegroup. com ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/gps/infomark. do? contentSet=GSRCtype=retrievetabID=T001prodId=IPSdocId=EJ3010062287source=galesrcprod=OVRCuserGroupName=uphoenixversion=1. 0 NRA-ILA. (n. d. ). Hunting Facts. Retrieved from http://www. nraila. org/issues/factsheet/read. aspx? id=124 Reade, C. (2008, October 13). Sport Hunting Should Not Be Banned. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles. com/? Sport- Hunting-Should-Not-Be-Bannedid=1578067 MacHalek, Richard S. Hunting. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Ed. Robert Kastenbaum. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 451-453. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. Retrieved from http://go. galegroup. com/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CCX3407200148v=2. 1u=apolloit=rp=GVRLsw=w Gale Document Number: GALE|CX3407200148.