Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past few days, you’ve
probably heard about the trophy-hunting dentist Walter Palmer, who accidentally killed Cecil, a 13-year old lion from a Zimbabwean reserve who was beloved by
the local townspeople. As someone who has been intensively trained to make arguments for the past
three years, I was moved to play the devil’s advocate and write a piece that
goes against the popular viewpoint. I urge you to set aside the propaganda that
has been forced down your throat for five minutes and consider my perspective.
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I want to start out by saying up-front that Cecil the lion’s death is
a tragedy. I feel sorry for his cubs, who will now be vulnerable to the next
male who takes over the pride, as is the way of their species. I feel sorry
that the local people have lost their "pet" mascot. But mostly, I feel sorry for the dentist who
now seems to be internationally hated more than ISIS, who is in real danger of losing his business for legally doing something that thousands of other
Americans do. The worldwide outrage and hate I have seen in response to this event
has astounded me, especially the hatefulness targeted at hunters in general.
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I grew up in a hunting
family, so it has always been part of my culture. My family follows all hunting
laws, and has a great respect for the delicate ecosystem of the forest. Hunters
get a bad reputation sometimes, but a quick Google search will show you that
hunters are basically the most active environmentalists we have here. Every year, hunters nationwide contribute billions of dollars to
conservation efforts. This amount dwarfs that raised by most other
environmental organizations.
Yesterday I attempted
to point out the inherent contradictions I have observed in the people’s
reaction the death of Cecil. People are quick to criticize the hunter, even going
so far as to use cruel phrases like “there is a special place in Hell for you.”
Interestingly enough, they are completely un-phased by the many other forms of animal cruelty and
torture taking place under their noses. Every year, slaughterhouses, chicken
farms, and dairy farms in THIS COUNTRY force millions of animals into a
miserable existence that is finally ended by a disgusting and painful death. Do
I think we all need to be vegetarian? Of course not. I eat meat and don’t
intend to stop. But I do so with full awareness of the sacrifices that were made by
innocent animals to put my beloved cheeseburger on my plate.
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| A dairy Cow, too sick and injured to move or walk, lies on the ground at a meat-packing plant in California Image Source |
Our mass condemnation of the hunter who mistakenly killed the
wrong lion is directly undermined by the daily behavior of most Americans. I
can’t help but think that this is a result of the popularity of the movie “The
Lion King” or all the nature shows on National Geographic. We hail lions as “amazing”
and “beautiful,” but we don’t care that thousands of rabbits and mice died to
make sure our lipstick doesn’t make us break out, or that our artificial
sweetener won’t give us cancer. Hell, hundreds of dogs live in sickening conditions at the Iams factory to make sure their food won’t kill your precious
pet.
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I feel that it is
pertinent to re-iterate that I really am saddened by the death of that lion.
However, Americans are too quick to jump on the bandwagon of sensationalized
news stories without taking a millisecond to stop and think for themselves. It
is hypocritical to say that trophy hunting is "evil", while overlooking the
litany of other horrific animal treatment that is legal in this country. Even the argument of
“food” vs. “trophy” fails when you try and justify the cosmetic company that
routinely uses chemicals to burn away the corneas of rabbits to make sure your
mascara won’t harm your eyes while you rock those lush lashes that make you
feel beautiful.
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| Draize Testing for mascara toxicity - process developed by the FDA Image Source |
Again, I am not suggesting that we all become vegan or stop
wearing make-up or taking prescription drugs. All I ask is that you take into
account ALL of the "socially accepted" injustices against animals that take place every day and
give that dentist a damn break.
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As always, thanks for reading!
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