Zimbabwe demands the US extradite dentist that shot Cecil the Lion; man's whereabouts are unknown as
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[QUOTE=catbarf;48349441]I think this is a really bad argument. If you're living in the US you probably have all the resources necessary to live an animal-free, vegetarian lifestyle. We eat meat because we [i]like[/i] to, not because we have to or because it's more efficient. By just about every metric animal consumption is massively wasteful and energy-intensive, but we sustain it because we enjoy the taste of meat so much.
Arguing that trophy hunting is wrong because it's unnecessary, wasteful killing seems massively hypocritical to me when it's coming from people who eat meat because they like it. What makes killing animals for flavor better than killing animals for trophies?
No, I am not a vegetarian. Yes, I think cruelty matters, and if an animal is to be killed then it's important to do it humanely to minimize the suffering of the animal. Yes, it matters if the animal is endangered or protected, and poaching is absolutely not okay. And yes, this is a little different in the third-world where vegetarianism isn't a viable option, and people use every bit of the animal, and killing is a practical necessity. But in principle, if you live in a society that raises and kills animals for the pleasure that can be derived from their meat rather than practical necessity, I don't think the argument that trophy hunting is wasteful and unnecessary has any merit.
We readily accept killing animals for pleasure, and whether that pleasure is a plateful of brisket or a rush of adrenaline and skull on the wall doesn't seem like a particularly meaningful distinction to me.[/QUOTE]
Broad spectrum vegetarianism isn't viable anywhere. Only so much land that is viable for crop production. Livestock are useful because they can eat the portions of crops that aren't fit for human consumption and can consume crops that grow in otherwise useless land.
Then you have hunting, which maintains the ecosystem. Hunters are, frequently, complete morons, but the people issuing the tags are playing a very particular balancing game in order to maintain stable and safe populations.
Even assuming we didn't need to eat them, we utilize livestock in so many products that it is basically unavoidable. From brake pads to the paint that covers the walls surrounding you.
Shooting a lion with a crossbow for a trophy? Doesn't fit into any of these categories.
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