Selected Comments
Post date: Feb 26, 2016 2:30:00 AM
Update, 1/17/2016, Petition to Prohibit Wildlife Killing Contests in Minnesota.
A lot of great comments have been made on this Petition, and here's a collection of a few I've come across.
If your comment, or the comment of a friend, isn't included in this collection but should be, please comment with a link, and I'll look it up.
Follow the links to your favorites, "like" them, and help them up toward the top!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377941262
I'm sick of calling brutality and blood lust anything other than what it is... The feds recently decided to make animal cruelty a more serious crime because they recognize that cruelty to pets is an indicator of and precursor to more violent behavior. What kind of twisted personalty is encouraged by this kind of brutality?
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377944246?recruiter=11281266
Those disgusting human beings who kill defenseless animals for prizes are an example of Homo NON Sapiens.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377947382
Man is such a disgrace.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377972070
Proper respect of firearms and hunting ethics need to be brought back to school curricula, not this kind of ridiculous and cruel bloodsport ---- make the changes!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377972750
Too many sociopaths start out learning to 'pleasure kill' animals! What message are we sending to our citizens when we make unrestricted and unnecessary "thrill killing" a game? Please: support ethical wildlife management, not blood sport masquerading as wildlife management! Thank you!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377994242
Killing a defenseless animal just for the sake of killing it breeds a tolerance for killing, hardens the heart and dulls the conscience of the killer. It is shocking that anyone in a civil society allows this. In my opinion, it is a training ground for socio-pathic behavior. It is immoral.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377997762
I believe in God, and I know everything was put on this earth for a reason. Killing animals for "sport" is criminal.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377957314
There needs to be limits.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
"Hunters" who try to rationalize or justify that they are "doing good" for the habitat via their wanton or "sport killing" of any species--to include the smallest ones--are cowards and misfits. Our forests and plains managed themselves superbly for millions of years before there was any interference by humans and state agencies.
The comment above promotes the natural regulation of natural ecosystems.
The following reply addresses the need for wildlife management in modern systems.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
Good point, Jon. On the other hand, in our current age of overpopulation, industry and agriculture, most experts agree that we don't have the option to leave the ecological balance to natural processes. We need to exercise some measure of wildlife management. We don't, however, need these wildlife-killing contests. These contests don't contribute to (in fact they detract from) effective and ethical wildlife management.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
With so many excellent and humane comments from the signers of this petition, along with the Petition itself, one has to wonder how such an archaic, barbaric, and horrific wildlife-killing event could still take place. What we need are voting ballots that include the records of candidates for their actions to protect other species.
The comment above refers to legislative scorecards.
For example, the following:
Animal Protection Voters New Mexico 2015 Scorecard (including significant action on the bill, SB 253, to prohibit wildlife-killing contests)
http://apvnm.org/scorecard/APV%202015%20Scorecard%20PDF%20for%20Web.pdf
Humane Society Legislative Fund/MN Voters for Animal Protection 2015 Scorecards
http://votersforanimals.org/2015/10/how-did-our-mn-legislators-do/
MN Voters for Animal Protection "Humane Scorecards"
http://votersforanimals.org/humane-scorecards-2/
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
Why do we bend over and allow the barbarians to rule? It's time to put a stop to this madness. Half of these psychopaths belong in mental institutes (and I believe it's past time to bring those institutions back). These people are, as was pointed out by another commenter, the equivalent of ISIS, cruel and barbaric!!!
The comment above suggests inpatient mental-health care.
The following reply suggests a less-intensive course of treatment.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
My hope is that they (or if not, then their children) can be treated as outpatients--with ethical guidance and legal sanctions.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
Killing contests are indicative of something terribly wrong with a society... the fact that some consider this standard operating procedure ought to scare people.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
According to the Bible, we were also put on this earth by GOD as stewards to the animals. I don't call this good stewardship, not by any means. I don't want my children to think that this is ok. I bet GOD feels disgusted about this, too. Every person that hunts with their children should sign this petition to set an example, and to send a message to those who think this is ok.
The comment above refers to faith-based stewardship of the earth.
See also "Four Principles of Biblical Stewardship":
https://tifwe.org/four-principles-of-biblical-stewardship/
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
The compassion and integrity of people can be determined by how they treat animals. This kind of behavior, hunting animals for a contest, demonstrates a disconnect with the value of life. These animals have families, and are sentient beings with feelings. Hunting them for human entertainment is outrageous.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
Kill a tiger for its skin
Kill a shark for its fin
Kill a whale with sonic din
Kill a coyote and all its kin.
If there is a higher power
Watching from some distant tower
He must see this as a sin
His patience must be wearing thin.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
Imagine a bullet going through you. That's what a coyote experiences--with all of the terrible physical pain, and all of the grief that your life is suddenly going to end. They want to live their lives, just like we want to live ours!!!!!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377254786
Heinous behavior like this is increasingly the norm. These people are the ISIS of God's animal kingdom.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377254858
As a native Minnesotan I hate to see my state characterized by the neanderthal activities of slack-jawed dog killers.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377255178
As a former Minnesotan, I'm appalled at the naked cruelty of this so-called contest. Minnesotans are better than this. Stand up and protect your wonderful wildlife!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377255738
This is not population control to solve a farm problem, nor is it ethical management. This is NOTHING MORE THAN THRILL KILLING. What's even worse is that it's an avenue to pass on this disgusting bloodsport to another generation. Shame on you, Minnesota DNR, for allowing this.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/c/377263646
It glorifies killing. First it's defenseless animals. Next?
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377264250
It's ridiculous that--with today's regulations and thorough understanding of wildlife--we still allow such acts of "conservation" towards coyotes and other predators. If we are to teach conservation, then we should teach humanely practical and environmental methods. Predators are a necessary piece of the puzzle of the natural world. The planet needs predators; killing or culling even a single species has consequences in the long run against preserving this fragile ecosystem. The human species is the one with the least understanding. It is through environmental studies, an informed public and government that we can tie up the loose threads here, and put an end to this absurd practice once and for all.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377264882
These animals are not trash. They are living beings trying to coexist in a violent world.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377265826
Coyotes are important predators in ecosystems. There is nothing charitable about killing animals. Americans should be better than this.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377267458
Por favor, juntem-se a mim para invocarmos o Minnesota DNR para proibir este bloodsport e proibir concursos de matar animais selvagens em todo o estado.
English translation of the comment above: Please join me to call on the Minnesota DNR to ban this and other bloodsport contests, killing wildlife throughout the state.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377270158
It's become increasingly clear to me that animals are like us. They go about their job of surviving and providing for their young. They have "families". They have relationships. They feel fear and other emotions like affection. They are innocent creatures. We should only kill them out of clear need.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377270226?recruiter=11281266
Killing for fun is NEVER a good idea, and animals are just as sacred to our planet as humans are.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/377270898
The barbarism needs to stop...let's spend money to investigate and implement non-lethal ways to control out of control populations--including the "human kind."
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376596138
Because it's stupid. If people think this will help cut down on coyote populations, they are dead wrong.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376629222
As a lifelong resident of Minnesota, I love our beautiful wilderness and all of the creatures within. I find such contests absolutely appalling.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376642490
My pet dog is half coyote and she's the best dog I've every had: intelligent, curious, and obedient, with eyes that stare into your soul. I hate to think of her ancestors being killed for fun. It's just cruel.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376670982
Please stop killing these innocent animals, we need them, the earth needs them and they need us to protect them. <3 God bless you. <3 In Jesus name, Amen.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376712642
Great. Just what we need. More narcissistic sociopaths running around with guns. Practicing for their human prey.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376727314
This sounds like a "Bundy" generated idea, yep!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376730770
It's outrageous, unerhical and sad. Having a contest where the worst person wins..? Where is the moral in that?
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376507302
I thought this stuff only happened in less civilized and less educated states. MY STATE OF MINNESOTA???? We're supposed to be one of the most educated and civilized states in this country. Who are these "backward" people, who are running this? DNR? This is what my extra eco dollars on taxes and specialty license plate for the DNR go to? NO MORE! This is an atrocity and inhuman. Inhumane. I am disappointed, disillusioned, and distressed. Governor Dayton??????
The comment above refers to MN DNR Critical Habitat license plates:
http://dnr.state.mn.us/features/plates/index.html
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376510058
Killing for food or to protect self and family certainly is accepted by rational people ... but, killing for "fun," how bloodthirsty do people have to be before we collectively say "NO?"
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376517322
Targeted, limited pest control is fine. "Clear-cutting" of predators disrupts what natural balance there is. Lose the contests.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376531814
We need to protect natural resources, not promote this barbaric "sport"!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376541230
We R to protect God's creations, not hurt them for sport.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376544670
I'm a hunter, and I'm offended by the routine killing of animals for no other purpose than gaming or killing. We eat what we kill, or the critter is killed as a matter of resolving a specific nuisance; not because we generically disregard the inherent value of other species. Grow some conscience. Be a steward, instead of being a rapist of the Earth
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/376546202
If you really want to "save the birds," save the habitat.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/c/376565058
Why are we doing this??? Coyotes help us to control sickness and disease in their prey. Stop this!
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/c/376567050
I come from a hunting family, although I don't hunt myself. It's one thing to harvest animals to be consumed as food, but it's another thing entirely to kill animals for entertainment. I think coyotes, in general, have gotten a bad rap. Competitions like this are barbaric and pointless.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375939146
Killing for fun is wrong. We need to be giving prizes for rescuing, not killing.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375851490
So many killers in Minnesota. I gave up on that State after hearing that Cecil the lion's killer lived there. Maybe we should make all the animal haters move to Minnesota, so at least we know where they are.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375856686
Hunting is intended to feed a family, not for joy killing. These contests are great ammunition for those pushing gun control.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375876278
Death is not a contest...
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375887954
As the species who are "set apart" by our "intelligence" we have the power to choose the way we treat other living creatures. We can choose to be barbaric idiots, or we can come together to find other solutions to help advance the world and teach compassion for our fellow creatures. Here's hoping these misguided tournaments get banned ASAP.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375898490
My family hunts for food. It is not a sport or a training ground. Killing contests in any state are vile & don't teach hunting ethics. They seem to be just a chance for idiots with guns to go shooting for the sake of killing. This is not hunting--this is not an American value.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375904394
This must be stopped!! Some people actually have no conscience in regards to animals, as if they are inanimate objects. They will not, cannot, stop themselves, as they don't see a reason to. We must stop them, and enlighten them to the truth: that animals are thinking, feeling beings. Asking the careless to care is dicey, though, at best.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375742646
With respect, brutalizing animals is not a game. Nor is it a positive lesson to be taught to young people. "Charitable gambling"? No, it's killing. And it's not any kind of specific, targeted, professionally and humanely conducted form of animal control either. When you kill some coyotes, it just backfires by creating more room for them to fill-in, and even expand, their niche. Increasingly, States are banning this sort of practice. Minnesota is a great State, and shouldn't count itself among the dead-enders that persist in promoting this brutal, ineffective pseudo-contest.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375753042
I am a gun owner and a hunter, and I teach my kids to use every part of the animal, and to respect that you've taken a life to sustain your own. These contests are unnecessary, cruel, and disgusting!!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375755678
Killing for sport, or killing for "fun" is strictly forbidden by Talmudic law. There is a very real reason for this: the taking of any life should never be perceived as a source of pleasure. Killing for food is unavoidable, and is part of nature. But if we begin to take pleasure from such killing, we start down a very slippery slope. The planned "Save The Birds" Coyote Hunting Tournament fits into the category of killing for fun, and should be banned.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375760646
This kind of thing should not happen! People take risks, like the 17 year-old who shot at a coyote from the road, in a truck, houses in view, his bullet hit a man and killed him. The man was shoveling his driveway. Now the boy and his father are in big trouble, and many lives are in turmoil. [Shooter from La Crosse, happened in Glen Flora, Rusk County, WI.] Get this coyote-hunting contest shut down! It is time for MN to wake up when it comes to animal treatment!!!
The comment above refers to the case of coyote hunter Ryan Korish of La Crosse, WI, who is up on homicide charges for the reckless use of a firearm.
References:
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/Korish-will-go-to-trial-on-homicide-charges-363873301.html
http://www.leadertelegram.com/News/Front-Page/2015/06/17/Tears-flow-over-shooting-death.html
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375760758
Introduce sportsmanship to young hunters?!?! That's like teaching children from a young age not to value life, in particular not to value animal life. Some of those children grow up with a lack of value for human life, as well. Besides that, these killing contests are cruel, inhumane, and senseless.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375760922
Predators and other animals are vital to the health of the eco-system. That humans think this sort of behavior is fun and entertaining is sickening and offensive to most of the human race. People that partake of these activities are barbaric and do not belong in civilized society.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/375377618
I guess I just don't get it. What kind of thrill do people get out of this barbaric form of entertainment? Why would any adult want to introduce a child to such savagery? Why not take them on nature hikes and teach them compassion for animals instead?!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/374844750
The Native Americans of long ago, who took care of this land and lived with it, would be so shocked at this treatment of our animal brothers and sisters. There is no respect in these contests.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/374416962
Killing animals this way is just "blood sport". We should not be doing killing just for sport, or teaching our young people to do the same. It is just killing for pleasure! If an animal is causing a nuisance to a particular farm or neighborhood, it may be justified. But this is just killing for the pleasure of killing!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/372645646
I am a hunter and fisherman, but I eat and store what I kill. A true sportsman never kills for fun. Drives me nuts when people kill just for the sport of killing. If animals endanger livestock or the lives of people, then I can understand. But to make a contest out of how many animals you can kill is simply wrong. Makes me sad to think that society has deteriorated to this point. This needs to stop. There's not much difference between doing this and hunting wolves from airplanes with automatic weapons.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/368508982
This is inhumane and encourages cruelty. This should not be allowed in a civilized society.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/369711506
Encouraging the killing animals for fun demonstrates not only a concerning failure of empathy, but a disturbing lack of understanding of how ecosystems work. Instead of encouraging ignorance, bloodlust and a lack of understanding and respect for wildlife and ecology; why not encourage a responsible and ethical appreciation for plants, animals and ecosystems through activities like habitat restoration? Why not have contests that have a positive effect on our wild places and on people's environmental intelligence and ethics? Especially in this time of human-caused global warming and other environmental degradation that's already stressing plants and animals to the point of mass extinction; we should be doing all we can to repair our relationship with the natural world, not perpetuating this wanton and ignorant extraction and domination.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/366378306
No killing contests here! Not in my great state of Minnesota! We are better than this. We are smarter than this! We are ethical stewards of wildlife; not backyard, third world, barbaric throwbacks! No, not here!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/378665002
As a former resident of Minnesota, I am appalled at the cavalier attitude of the DNR on this issue. I did research in Voyageurs NP for my PhD., volunteered many hours at the Raptor Rehab Center at the Univ of Minn, and worked out of Morris, MN in the Wetlands Management District. It is this level of stupidity in state game & fish departments that marks the beginning of the end. I predict that most states will go the way of CA in how wildlife is managed: for all citizens & for all wildlife.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/382074950
I'm signing because blood sport and trophy hunting are disgusting and barbaric practices that need to be put to an end. We need to stop acting like we're the most important species in this planet and, like we have a right to be killing others for fun.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/382075458
Debemos amar y cuidar a los que no tienen voz y no matarlos por diversión.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/382077882
I think killing for sport is immoral. It goes against our human duty as stewards of the earth. We are meant to care and nurture so life can thrive. Destruction and death rarely have a positive effect. Humans who kill for sport are equal in mentality to a serial killer.
"When people raise their guns as an emotional expression of hatred toward a species, it is not hunting."
Thomas D. Mangelsen, Jackson Hole, WY
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/381476586
I'm embarrassed to read this of my native Minnesota. I'm pro-hunting, but NOT pro animal genocide.
https://www.change.org/p/prohibit-wildlife-killing-contests-in-minnesota/u/15011042
This is completely senseless killing, all for the thrill of it; it is also the wrong message to teach our children. Bloodsports are unethical, they teach our children that wildlife has no value in and of itself, only the value that society places upon it; they teach that tyranny over the weaker and most vulnerable among us and the misuse of power by humans is okay.
Bloodsports teach that we are predatory, which we are not--we were created to care for and protect the earth and the animal kingdom. But we've taken a different direction. We mismanage our duties, and make a mess of the planet. We are not united as a people and won't put down our swords; we destroy one another as well as the animals and the earth.
This is NOT okay. Please follow other states who are banning these practices.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -—Martin Luther King, Jr.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/380520526
Killing animals for fun is different than hunting. Animals hunted for consumption is different and sends a different message. Our society has enough violence as it is.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/380526086
Another disappointing display of 3rd world barbarism still sanctioned - worse, celebrated - in the US. Minnesota, stop the senseless killing of these beautiful creatures!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/380570134
Why do people have to wreck everything?
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/382099230
I hate the cruel murder of any living being. People are losing their ability to "feel" pain and suffering.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/382098302
I don't mind hunting that is humane and not wasteful, but this is rapacious, gratuitous, and ugly. This kind of thing makes more people 'anti hunting'.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/382140982
Here are a couple of the good articles from the NWTF website about wild turkeys, predators, and habitat. They recommend a focus on habitat and a coexistence with predators.
http://www.nwtf.org/.../wild-turkeys-predators-problem
http://www.nwtf.org/conservation/article/coexist-predators
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/384894034
This is criminal. It is a callous horror perpetrated for entertainment and profit under the guise of 'save the birds'. We all have our place in God's plan. This is not God's plan for Coyotes.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/384817630
In cases where animal/pest/predator control is needed, there are better ways to accomplish it. To the contrary, encouraging free-for-all style, no-bag-limit hunting and killing is the complete antithesis of responsible sportsmanship. It is even worse when this sort of indiscriminate hunting is paired with money and prizes. Bingo, Powerball, scratch-off tickets...that is gambling and gaming. These killing contests are not.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/384800858
Killing an animal should only be necessary when:
* In self-defense;
* For needed food;
* To protect property; (but scare the animal first).
* To put it out of its misery.
Never should we have to kill a predator to save another species of animals. There's something called a food chain.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/384745914
Brutal, senseless behavior to those who share this planet is no longer tolerable. The extermination of innocent wildlife for prizes is sinful, yes sinful. An act of brutality that will haunt the perpetrators later in life, or in the afterlife. If you are a perpetrator of these crimes, reconsider your behavior, and seek redemption by helping wildlife, and restoring your humanity, empathy, and sympathy.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/384526726
No life should be another's sport!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/384467810
Es un ser vivo y es parte de la creación.
The coyote is a living being, a part of creation.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/384410398
If you have fun killing animals ...some part of you is a monster.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/384396742
Killing for game is one thing, this... this is genocidal.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/389603214
I'm a proponent of kindness and a foe of stupidity.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/389527862
Sou contra qualquer crueldade ou maus tratos aos animais
"I am against any cruelty to, or mistreatment of, animals."
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/389525094
I am so sick of killing being associated with being manly! People are getting so desensitized to murder & death that the violent crime rates are growing exponentially. Think about it when the next child is killed because he/she was in the wrong place. Wake up!!!
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/389347498
There's just nothing that screams "human idiocy and IN-Human behavior" more than activities such as this, that encourage the torture, maiming and killing of animals.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/389202982
Es enfermo. ("It's sick.")
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/389158138
Killing contests are a sick form of entertainment for the uneducated minority who has no respect for wildlife. These contest need to be banned and ethical hunter education should be the rule of thumb. It is one thing to take an animal's life for food, but these killing contests are a disturbing result of disrespect for life.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/392243566
We should be looking more long-term, how to allow more creatures to remain living as part of the ecosystem, rather than a "solution" that is cruel and short-visioned.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/391983446
Some people just need to get a life and learn to leave nature alone. Have these sorry excuses for human beings not got anything better to do with their time ? They will all claim to be good Christians too - they obviously don't read the bible ! Ecclesiastes 3:19
For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/393612594
This competition is absolutely disgraceful, based on an argument that it scientifically unsound and morally indefensible. The wholesale, unregulated slaughter of wild animals is something out to the dark ages. STOP THIS NOW
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/391528210
I want to save the lives of wildlife animals because killing animals for tournaments is a senseless act. It shows the lack of reverence towards the life force of God's creation.
https://www.change.org/p/5261454/c/390824678
You don't like terrorism? You're worried about loved ones getting shot for no reason? So why are you letting bubbas terrorize coyotes, mammals like us? What goes around comes around.
Top comment on the Petition to Prohibit Wildlife Killing Contests in Minnesota.