There are 6.5 million 4-H members, 5-19 yrs of age, and they raise their animals to be killed and eaten. There are 2.5 million peta members.
I hate to get into a blantant straw man argument. i.e.; "If you don't support Peta, then you support all forms of animal abuse." I don't support Peta or the HSUS in any way, shape or form. We don't need peta. Not one little bit. Dog fighting isn't suddenly going to become legal if those AR groups went away. They serve no purpose but to make $$$ and brain-wash people that animals have 'rights' like people have. Supporting an AR group even a little, gives legitimacy to them.... and they don't deserve any. None. ...and by the way, I've been to a bull-fight and it was rather interesting. It's over fairly fast... and certainly a faster and more noble a death than a gut shot deer endures.
I believe the amount of people who view hunting as "unethical and cruel" are WAY more then the ones who have no problem with it. Just saying...
I actually used to think the same thing. :D Never been dove hunting but was actually offered yesterday and will probably go.
Would 2.5 million people that we are certain find hunting cruel, count as "many"? If not, what is the number we need to classify it as that? I would venture a guess that there are more non PETA members that find hunting cruel than than the 2.5 million members. I'm just basing that on the fact that I do not know or have ever met a PETA member (at least knowingly), yet I have encountered numerous people that found hunting "cruel". Is that a fair assumption? The non hunting crowd got enough of the hunting crowd to support a "no" vote. Hell, they even had hunters and hunter clubs in commercials saying that even they thought it was wrong. Moronic, really.
I believe PETA has the right to be here on earth. I believe that if PETA believes in something strongly, they have the right to voice their opinion. I believe that once someone has declared that they do not believe the same as PETA, any further attempts on their part is harassment. I believe that if a member of PETA touches someone who does not want to be touched, that person has every right to whip the representative pf PETA to within an inch of their life, but not one centimeter further. I believe that there needs to be a lot more QUIET members of PETA to drive the price of veggies up and meat down. These are just a few things that I believe.
I would classify "many" as more than .8% of the population, maybe somewhere closer to 25%. I think a better assumption is that most people "believe" hunting to be cruel because they really have no idea about it, except bullets into animals. Do these same people think that killing the animals they buy parts of at the grocery store is cruel (kind of a rhetorical question)? I don't know anyone at my office that hunts but they are all ready to take venison. They have never mentioned hunting and cruel to me nor have they mentioned cruel when taking chickens. On a personal note, I have never met a peta person but have worked with a number of dog/animal rescues. None of the people involved in those organizations liked peta.
I have no idea of what PETA's views are on anything really....I know that I served in the Military to protect our rights...I'm thinkin they got rights as well....I also know that they had a whole passel of nekkid ladies taken a shower right down the street from my parents house last week...I bet they were protestin something but all I was worried about was if they dropped the soap and had to get it..would that cause them to come from behind the thigh to neck plastic shower curtain....so I could get a lil peek. I don't agree with the meeley mouth whiners on many subjects...I think they got rights in the US...but so do I....I'd love for them to return the favor and admit, that I can eat meat and wear leather...but I doubt they will... SB
Interesting thoughts, Finch. Peta has as much rights to free speech as anybody else, and in reality, most hunters have a LOT more in common with the average Peta member than y'all would probably like to believe. In fact, I have a lot of friends who are active in dog rescue, and spend time volunteering at no-kill shelters - some of which are commingled with HSUS. None of those individuals are "anti-hunting." I've even DONATED money for dog food to the local shelter, which happens to be affiliated with the Humane Society - earmarked for such, of course. I like dogs. I've had a few of them - probably gotta get another one soon. Hunters and Farmers are America's top two demographics of animal rights proponents. Fact. We spend more money on animals than any other group, and we've been doing it for generations. My biggest problem with those groups (PETA and HSUS) is that they market themselves as dog & cat-loving entities (and generate massive funds doing so), but the amount of $$ that they dump into thwarting various hunting efforts isn't exactly what most of their donors had in mind when they cut the check. To break my point down into its simplest terms: They generate X dollars by pretending to be a "save the puppies" organization. They generate Y dollars by pretending to be an "anti-hunting" organization. X is FAR, FAR greater than Y. But, when you look at their SPENDING, they blow a disproportionate amount of money on battling hunting-related issues, when they should be focused on saving puppies, which is their meal ticket. To get a better picture of what I'm talking about, google for your local Human Society and look at their homepage. It will probably feature various pics of starving kittens and sad puppies. It's easy to see how anyone (hunters included) would want to donate to a group like that. If HUNTERS really cared about battling HSUS and PETA, they would establish their OWN "Save the Puppies" organization, and work toward disarming their true enemies by crippling them financially.
Not a touchy subject for me.......... I hate um with a passion , all of them , end of story , and i'm not explaining myself either ....period.
So basically anyone that threatens the right to hunt...death to them? I'm in. :D Just came across this article from a few years back. Poor fly.
I cant possibly imagine anything good coming out of sideing with them on anything! I LOVE hunting, fishing, trapping and every other outdoor activity, that is like saying "commies have some good points". Dog fighting is a small part of their agenda, I cant even rout for the whale freaks on tv, I allways rout for the Japanees guys or that one of those guys falls over boards and jams up their prop! Finch buddy i think its time for you to grab your nads and man up a bit son! we are only a few weeks from bow season and this is what you want to talk about? there has to be something else going on you can be doing down in Va bud
I would love to meet the person (if one exists) that obeys every single PETA rule. Is this even possible??? I mean...we're talking about a no bug killin', no meat eatin', no wool wearin' pansy.
let me think about this for a minute.......nope still the same as i was thinking before in in post 30 Not a touchy subject for me.......... I hate um with a passion , all of them , end of story , and i'm not explaining myself either ....period.
Their numbers are wrong as far as the population that hunts, anti hunters and people that could care less either way. According to the NCWRC 10% of Americans are hunters, 10% are anti hunters and the other 80% are neither. hey said 5% are hunters. lol As far as all their other "facts" I would like to see actual studies and references to what studies these numbers/information came from. Another thing, how is sterilizing a deer any more humane than killing one? Wouldn't spreading human hair and deer repellent do the same thing as far as stress from hunting pressure and keeping them from food sources? Hmm, sounds like a bunch of geniuses to me!!! I don't know much about PETA but, I can say after reading this article ai believe it is safe to say if I caught one of them sabotaging my hunting spot with deer repellent and human hair they would get to see inhumane.
Some really good posts here and some that really have got me thinking more about this. I never payed much attention to them honestly. I always viewed them as nuts with an agenda to push. However, recently, I checked into them a bit more and am astonished by what I find. As I said earlier PETA and others can not be trusted when it comes to our hunting rights. In a perfect world, if they were to be all about "saving the puppies", I'd have no issue with them. But it sounds to me like they are using that puppy money to push their anti-hunting agenda. I believe I read a while ago that there were HSUS groups that were actually listed on the anti-terrorism lists! I do not like PETA, not a bit. But I can agree with some of the stuff posted on their site. Christie brought up a good point about the need for their existance in the first place. I believe she's very correct in her assessment that they aren't needed. Federal laws will take care of things such as dog fighting and the like. And I too would love to know how many PETA members abide by all things PETA. Just their very existance makes them a hipocrite really. If they live in a house, well, a tree that potentially had a squirrels nest in it was destroyed. Even if they're vegetarians, and I imagine most are, the scores of forest that had to be cleared to accommodate the crops, killed or displaced thousands of animals. YOu could dissect any part of human life and find ways in which we as humans directly or indirectly effect wildlife. I too feel that everyone has a right to their opinion. They have a right to not like hunting. I have a right to like hunting and not like their opinion. But it should end there. Problem is, it does not.
