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SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness
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WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELPRead the AP-PAC Press ReleaseMedia: Group drugged pheasants then shot themMedia: You Call That Sport?New Jersey Bowhunters Under Scrutiny
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They Call That Sport?Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/27/06It's hard to decide what was more disturbing about the video shown by animal rights activists this week in which bowhunters kicked and prodded pheasants to make them take flight before firing their arrows at nearly point-blank range: The video itself, in which hunters exchanged high-fives after watching the limp birds fall to earth, or the response to the video from Larry Herrighty, chief of the Bureau of Wildlife Management in the state Department of Environmental Protection. "I don't see anything illegal in the video that I saw," Herrighty said. If it wasn't illegal, it should be. It was barbaric. The hunters apparently transported the pheasants to a site in Sussex County, releasing them one at a time. As the hunters stood in a row, bows at the ready, one of them would either poke or kick the pheasant to get it off the ground. Before the birds were even 10 feet in the air, the hunters would unleash a fusillade of arrows. There's more sport involved in picking off plastic ducks at an amusement park. The vice president of the United Bowhunters of New Jersey, which apparently sponsored the event, defended the hunters' actions. "Whether they flushed those birds by shaking or kicking at a bush, or used a dog, they are both accepted methods," said Matt Trembow. They may be acceptable to bowhunters. But they violate any civilized standard of behavior. The state Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says it will investigate the incident. Stuart Chaifetz, director of the Animal Protection PAC, hopes the state will prosecute the case. If officials find there are no grounds for doing so, lawmakers must draft legislation that will provide an appropriate punishment for yahoos who engage in such cowardly, inhumane conduct. |
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