Canned Hunting
08-24-2006, 05:43 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Posts: 576
Canned Hunting
Although still active in the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, if Saggiomo was a sportsman, he wouldn't have shot a domesticated animal that was lured into his sights and had no way to escape.
08-24-2006, 08:17 AM
#2
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location:
Posts: 317
RE: Canned Hunting
Interesting article. I really never thought I might come down on this guy's side, but I am.
First of all, this article is extremely biased in favor of HSUS' point of view, that hunting, all hunting of any kind, is evil. For example, this passage:
"For a few thousand dollars, Great White Hunters-complete with rented guides, dogs, and guns or bows-can go into a fenced-in area and shoot an exotic species. In most canned hunts, the animals have been bred to be killed, have little fear of humans, and are often lured to a feeding station or herded toward the hunter to allow a close-range kill. In some of the preserves-Tioga denies it ever used these techniques-animals are drugged or tied to stakes. Some of the "big cats," recorded by investigative undercover videos by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and by the Fund for Animals were declawed, placed in cages, and then released; the terrified and non-aggressive animals were then killed within a few yards of their prisons; some were killed while in their cages. "
They don't stop there. Here is what they think of shooting pheasants on preserves:
" Canned hunts attract not only ethics-challenged pretend-hunters, but ethics-challenged celebrities as well. Among celebrities who have participated in canned hunts, and who mistakenly believe they are hunters and not cold-blooded killers, are Vice-President Dick Cheney, who has been on several hunts in which the kill was assured; and Troy Gentry of the country-rock duo, Montgomery Gentry.
In December 2003, Cheney and nine of his friends-including former Naval Academy and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), and some Texas high-roller Republican party donors-went to the exclusive Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, Pa., about an hour's drive east of Pittsburgh. The owners of the country club, being the good hosts they were, released 500 domesticated and penned-up ring-necked pheasants in the morning."
Please note that in the article extensive use is made of quotes by anti hunting sources, such as Heidi Prescott, and such intellectual giants as Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey's Peoples' Republik. While no mention is made of the hundreds of millions of bucks HSUS has in their warchest, SCI is castigated for donating nearly 800,000 bucks to political campaigns.
Perhaps the most telling quote in the article is this one:
"if Saggiomo was a sportsman, he wouldn't have shot a domesticated animal that was lured into his sights and had no way to escape." Hey folks. How much farther do we want these folks to go in dictating how and what we choose to hunt? I don't go on "canned hunts." It is my choice, and I refuse to let the Heidi Prescotts of this world dictate to me what I eat and how I hunt, though. On this one, I have to come down on Ralph Saggiomo's side. What he did was legal. In his own mind, it was also ethical. I am sure some will castigate him for doing this, but beware of whom you support.
First of all, this article is extremely biased in favor of HSUS' point of view, that hunting, all hunting of any kind, is evil. For example, this passage:
"For a few thousand dollars, Great White Hunters-complete with rented guides, dogs, and guns or bows-can go into a fenced-in area and shoot an exotic species. In most canned hunts, the animals have been bred to be killed, have little fear of humans, and are often lured to a feeding station or herded toward the hunter to allow a close-range kill. In some of the preserves-Tioga denies it ever used these techniques-animals are drugged or tied to stakes. Some of the "big cats," recorded by investigative undercover videos by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and by the Fund for Animals were declawed, placed in cages, and then released; the terrified and non-aggressive animals were then killed within a few yards of their prisons; some were killed while in their cages. "
They don't stop there. Here is what they think of shooting pheasants on preserves:
" Canned hunts attract not only ethics-challenged pretend-hunters, but ethics-challenged celebrities as well. Among celebrities who have participated in canned hunts, and who mistakenly believe they are hunters and not cold-blooded killers, are Vice-President Dick Cheney, who has been on several hunts in which the kill was assured; and Troy Gentry of the country-rock duo, Montgomery Gentry.
In December 2003, Cheney and nine of his friends-including former Naval Academy and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), and some Texas high-roller Republican party donors-went to the exclusive Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, Pa., about an hour's drive east of Pittsburgh. The owners of the country club, being the good hosts they were, released 500 domesticated and penned-up ring-necked pheasants in the morning."
Please note that in the article extensive use is made of quotes by anti hunting sources, such as Heidi Prescott, and such intellectual giants as Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey's Peoples' Republik. While no mention is made of the hundreds of millions of bucks HSUS has in their warchest, SCI is castigated for donating nearly 800,000 bucks to political campaigns.
Perhaps the most telling quote in the article is this one:
"if Saggiomo was a sportsman, he wouldn't have shot a domesticated animal that was lured into his sights and had no way to escape." Hey folks. How much farther do we want these folks to go in dictating how and what we choose to hunt? I don't go on "canned hunts." It is my choice, and I refuse to let the Heidi Prescotts of this world dictate to me what I eat and how I hunt, though. On this one, I have to come down on Ralph Saggiomo's side. What he did was legal. In his own mind, it was also ethical. I am sure some will castigate him for doing this, but beware of whom you support.
