Cecil The Lion - Rupert The Rat - Walter The Wood Pigeon

It would appear that the world has gone mad after the shooting of Cecil The Lion. Why? Why is it that the shooting of one wild animal has piqued the interest of the world? Is it because it is a lion or is it because people really care about animals? Why have petitions sprung up all over the place relating to this killing?

 What if this lion had been a "man killer". I.E. it had seen a human as easy prey and had killed it and eaten it? Would that have been reason enough to have the lion killed? If the answer is yes then why? Was the animal not just doing what came naturally to it? Should human beings then have the right to kill the lion? An eye for an eye? What about the other way round. Human kills a lion so the lions then have the right to kill a human?

I ask these questions because there are animals being shot and killed all around the world every minute of every day. They are being killed for sport, for food, for other by-products and just for doing what comes naturally.

This brings me to Rupert The Rat. Now Rupert was not doing anything other than living as rats were designed to do. His problem was that he left a little round calling card to show his presence in somebodies house. What happened? They had him killed. Poisoned. Is there any petition about the death of this poor innocent rat? Not that I can find. Why is that?

What about Walter the Wood Pigeon. Happily sitting in a tree having had a nice lunch of tasty young green leaves when BANG somebody comes along and shoots him. Any petition here? Any huge cry of outrage? Don't think so.

And while I am on the subject. What about fishing. There are millions of people all over the world that go fishing. Not for the collection of food but for the sport. Is that wrong? I have not seen a petition against fishing but I bet there is one somewhere.

Now I do not condone the killing of any animal but there are millions killed every day. For food, for sport, because they are looked at as vermin in some cases. That is the way of the world. Humans have been killing animals for millenia for all sorts of different reasons.

I say I don't condone the killing of any animal but do I? I enjoy eating meat and probably eat it ninety nine days out of a hundred. Does that make me a monster of some kind? I don't believe it does but thinking about it I do condone the killing of animals don't I?

The one thing that I cannot condone is the threats that have been made against those that hunt. It would appear that some in this world would happily kill a human being but would not have that human being kill an animal. Strange world we live in isn't it? Full of dilemmas when you are the top predator in the world!!