I recently read a comment in an Ontario newspaper, made by a man from Red Deer, concerning the killing of polar bears. Slaughtered without a chance by people who get paid to kill by customers so the hides of Canadian bears can hang on the walls of rich people in China or other such countries.

This gentleman said he had no problem with the killing (because he was a hunter) of the bears, he just wished the jobs were going to the Inuit. Does every hunter feel this way in Alberta? Is this what we’re coming to, we will allow these beautiful creatures to be wiped out because that’s what hunters do?

One day everything will be gone and I wonder what the hunters will do for fun then.

The world is concerned about the animals that are being slaughtered all over the world for nothing more than souvenirs. Slaughtered to show someone’s wealth or their macho.

Tigers in India, elephants and rhinos in Africa just for their horns, seals and whales–and it goes on and on.

Just about every living creature is in danger from somebody who thinks they can make some money or just feels powerful when watching the life leaves the eyes of an animal as their heart finally stops pounding with fear– whose only crime was surviving.

Now it is our beautiful majestic polar bears. One of Canada’s emblems. We contribute to a fund to help save these bears from global warming destroying their habitat, now people are shooting them.

The gentleman from Red Deer said he just wished the money for doing the killing was going to the Inuit. He is a hunter, he says, and I suppose that is supposed to justify his opinion. I showed his comments to a student in our university who is an Inuit and he wanted anyone who thought this way to know one thing. Money or not, very few Inuit would kill polar bear just so their hides could hang on someone’s wall. They have more respect for animals than that.

I, personally, just don’t get hunting for sport anyway. I worked in a prison where I have seen people die. I am not naive, but to kill because you can is a sin. Animals have shown more integrity than people–they only kill to survive, just as our ancestors did.

I think hunters should up the ante. Make the hunt more of a challenge than just a good shot. Perhaps it would be a better game if two hunters of equal experience were each given a gun, go out to the woods and see who can make the kill.

Something like the gladiators. We might ultimately run out of hunters but we will have the animals.

Mary Vincent

Kingston, Ontario