Canned "Hunting" in America

http://www.ocpausa.org/hunting.htm

Canned Hunting

"Canned hunting is the killing of an animal in an enclosure to obtain a trophy. The animals are sometimes tame exotic mammals; some, in fact, have been sold by petting zoos to the canned hunting operation. These animals do not know to run from humans. Many groups that support hunting scorn canned hunting for its unsportsmanlike practice; patrons are guaranteed a kill. Several states now ban canned hunting operations, but the practice is spreading.

From Maine to Arkansas and Indiana to Texas, canned hunting operations are sprouting up all over. The Humane Society of the United States estimates there are more than 1,000 canned hunt operations in at least 25 different states. They are most common in Texas, but they are found throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. Safari Club International (SCI) has done its part to promote canned hunting by creating a hunting achievement award, "Introduced Trophy Game Animals of North America," which may support the operation of canned hunts.

The sale of exotic mammals to canned hunts is big business for private breeders, animal dealers, and disreputable zoos. The over breeding of captive exotic animals exacerbates the problem. The indiscriminate breeding produces surplus animals, which are then sold, traded, or otherwise disposed of to exhibitors, circuses, animal dealers, game ranches, or individuals. Hunt operators can purchase animals directly through dealers or at auctions. Until those who own exotic animals stop their irresponsible breeding, there will be a steady supply of victims for canned hunting operators.

Clients pay large sums of money to participate in canned hunts, which take place in a confined area from which the animal cannot escape. The victims are exotic (non-indigenous) animals, including several varieties of goats and sheep; numerous species of Asian and African antelope; deer, cattle, and swine; and bears, zebra, and sometimes even big cats.

The killing of a confined or restrained wild animal is abuse for the sake of amusement. Unlike situations in which animals can use their natural and instinctual abilities to escape predation, a canned hunt affords animals no such opportunity. In fact, animals may be hand-reared, fed at regular times, and moved regularly among a system of corrals and paddocks. These practices lessen the natural fear and flight response elicited by human beings, and ensure the hunters an easy target. Animals may be set up for a kill as they gather at a regular feeding area or as they move toward a familiar vehicle or person. Once a pattern is established, even the most wary antelope can be manipulated effectively, guaranteeing a kill.

Most states allow canned hunting. Only California, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have laws prohibiting the hunting of exotic mammals in enclosures. Oregon's Fish and Wildlife Commission, responding to public disgust for canned hunting, recently passed a ban on the practice.

At this time, no federal law governs canned hunting. The Animal Welfare Act does not regulate game preserves, hunting preserves, or canned hunts. Although the Endangered Species Act protects species of animals listed as endangered or threatened, it does not prohibit private ownership of endangered animals and may even allow the hunting of endangered species. Federal legislation regarding canned hunts is anticipated in the near future."

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My definition of barbarism:

Raising mammals, like antelope, from birth to be just "wild" enough as young adults to guarantee an easy kill for a "hunter" willing to pay the price for the pleasure of killing the animal within an enclosed killing zone.

"Patrons are guaranteed a kill".... Makes my blood crawl knowing that is the attraction.....to kill a caged adult mammal.

For pleasure. For sport. For fun. For a trophy. For profit.

Happening right now, not in Africa. In America. In the tens of thousands of animals.

Tanzanian wildlife kills pale in comparison.

Much more at the link....read it, weep and get ready for another dose of righteous outrage.