KLRU
Wounded Animal's Needless Suffering
RECEIVED Wed., Dec. 5, 2012
Dear Editor,
Although I do not hunt or eat meat, I appreciated Jessi Cape’s honest account of her hunting class near Medina [“In the Blind,” Food, Nov. 30]. It is refreshing to see a person who cares about food sustainability and actually feels for her animal prey.
However, I am puzzled why Jessi wants to continue to hunt after her first hunting experience. Jessi and her instructor managed to gruesomely wound a boar (an invasive species, but an intelligent and feeling creature regardless) and then failed to track the pig down and end its suffering. Jessi subsequently subjected the pig to hours of unimaginable suffering by failing to efficiently kill it. Jessi wrote that she cried, that she didn’t want the boar to suffer, and at one point “gasped in horror” when the pig ran away.
Surely Jessi will become a better shot in the future. But just as surely there will be prey that will not be instantly killed and will escape to needlessly suffer. Jessi wrote that she “fully intends to hunt again.” As romantic as her adventure was that day at Medina, Jessi will have to shed her caring ways for the animals. Her inner turmoil regarding the wounded animal that “got away” will provide no comfort for the animal experiencing its own little hell before dying.
Although I do not hunt or eat meat, I appreciated Jessi Cape’s honest account of her hunting class near Medina [“In the Blind,” Food, Nov. 30]. It is refreshing to see a person who cares about food sustainability and actually feels for her animal prey.
However, I am puzzled why Jessi wants to continue to hunt after her first hunting experience. Jessi and her instructor managed to gruesomely wound a boar (an invasive species, but an intelligent and feeling creature regardless) and then failed to track the pig down and end its suffering. Jessi subsequently subjected the pig to hours of unimaginable suffering by failing to efficiently kill it. Jessi wrote that she cried, that she didn’t want the boar to suffer, and at one point “gasped in horror” when the pig ran away.
Surely Jessi will become a better shot in the future. But just as surely there will be prey that will not be instantly killed and will escape to needlessly suffer. Jessi wrote that she “fully intends to hunt again.” As romantic as her adventure was that day at Medina, Jessi will have to shed her caring ways for the animals. Her inner turmoil regarding the wounded animal that “got away” will provide no comfort for the animal experiencing its own little hell before dying.
Daniel Portnoy
