Sunday, February 17, 2013

Squirrel Hunting Event in Upstate New York Draws Protests

Squirrel (credit: ClipArt)
CBS Local reports

Protesters from New York City headed upstate Saturday to demonstrate against a squirrel-killing contest in the small town of Holley.

The 7th annual Hazzard County Squirrel Slam was sold out Saturday, with all 1,000 tickets spoken for. The contest in Holley – a town of about 1,800 approximately 20 miles from Rochester – will raise money for the volunteer Holley Fire Department, the event sponsor.

Prizes ranging from $50 to $200 were being given out Saturday for the largest squirrel shot and the heaviest group of five squirrels. Five rifles and shotguns are to be raffled off, according to a flier posted on the Holley Fire Department Web site.

“Declaring someone a winner for killing the most animals influences children and the wider community to believe that wildlife is unimportant and killing for a monetary prize is meritorious,” Brian Shapiro, New York state director of the Humane Society of the United States, wrote in a letter to Holley Fire Chief Pete Hendrickson.
Mr. Shapiro speaks very nicely. I would just say it's fucking sick.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

13 comments:

  1. And how much money did all the protestors from the big city raise for the rural fire department?

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  2. Simple Math says,

    Sold out at $10.00 a head with $500 in prizes and an unknown amount in 50/50 money...... >$9,500....

    And as a bonus you got the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the smelly Birkenstock wearing city hippies, along with hundreds of little shitty little dead tree rats.....

    Sounds like a win, win, win..... what's not to like!!!!

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  3. You puritans can't stand it that things you disapprove of are legal;
    or to paraphrase Mencken, you hate it that someone, somewhere, might be having fun.

    orlin sellers

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  4. "Mr. Shapiro speaks very nicely. I would just say it's fucking sick."

    Cry me a fucking river. They're squirrels

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  5. Those who support this are like little boys who never grew up.

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    Replies
    1. Please continue holding your snobbish attitude. It's a great help to us.

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    2. Do you feel the same way about fishing tournaments, mikeb?

      orlin sellers

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    3. Mikeb,

      While I certainly do not condone the unlawful poaching (and subsequent trespassing) which occurs all too frequently today, I feel that the harvest of meat through means of safe, licensed, and lawful hunting, is far preferable to the wanton disregard for humane practice that is manifest in the meat industry. Humans only show compassion for animals which we find to be cute. We are eager to rally to the cause of a bushy-tailed rat, yet we find no such empathy for creatures of a more porcine nature. We object to the killing of squirrels, simply because they look cool.

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    4. Like most hunting, this is not about harvesting the meat for a hungry family. Like 10-year-olds with B-B guns, most hunters are into the thrill and empowerment of killing something. It's sick.

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  6. "Declaring someone a winner for killing the most animals influences children and the wider community to believe that wildlife is unimportant and killing for a monetary prize is meritorious"

    Do they object to government positions that involve the elimination of rats or other vermin in the city? Is a rat in NY city worth less than a squirrel in upstate NY?

    What about all of the pest control companies around the country - should those all be closed?

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    Replies
    1. Actually, I think there is a difference between controlling rats or cock roaches and hunting squirrels or pigeons for fun.

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  7. This is an outrage! You people are beyond sick. Why would you murder such small, helpless, cute, and fluffy animals? I support gun rights, hunting, and fishing, but killing squirrels, bunnies, or doves/pigeons is just senseless cruelty and barbarism. They don’t bother you and they have little to no meat in them. Hunting and fishing should be for food only, anything else is sadism in it purest form. I have no problem with fishing or killing a big game animal in order to put food on the table. You kill a bear, moose, boar, or deer, give the Lord Jesus Christ thanks, then carve out and harvest the meat with your own two hands, and let nothing go to waste, that’s real hunting. Killing small and defenseless fluffy squirrels in the woods is not hunting, it’s an insult to real men, an insult to honor, an insult to decency, and it’s conduct unbecoming. Animals should only be killed for food, or if they are threatening you. I would rather see men become vigilantes and hunt the thugs and gangbangers that are destroying our cities than to see cute and harmless small creatures massacred in cold blood. Or better yet, go hunt the crooks in Washington. Judge in yourselves, who deserves to die more, a fluffy squirrel gathering nuts in a tree, or the folks at the IRS?

    ReplyDelete