After interviewing retired game warden Murray Bates last week, I haven't been able to stop thinking about how alarmed I am over what I have learned about poachers.
There has been a large number of poaching incidents recently, as stated in a Dec. 4 article in the Mountain View Gazette.
It is hard for me to get my head around the reason why poachers continue to illegally kill animals for the purpose of merely having “prize possessions” while abandoning their slaughtered carcasses. All they want is the “trophies” to sell.
I have always loved animals, always. They are absolutely beautiful creatures and they are interesting and intelligent.
This is why I was so devastated when learning about global warming killing polar bears and this is why my heart breaks to become more knowledgeable of the sinister intentions of a poacher.
Even the thought of harming an animal will never in a million years be justified in my eyes.
Bates said he caught one poacher who killed 63 moose in one winter just to take the “goods” and leave the remains.
He also said he arrested a “poaching gang” in Irvine that collectively killed 58 deer.
How is it that people allow themselves to not only kill animals for these reasons but also to achieve these unthinkable numbers?
Don't get me wrong; I don't have a problem with actual hunting. There is a distinct difference between a hunter and a poacher. I am a hunter's daughter, and it's family tradition that has been passed on.
Personally, I will never hunt. I will never intentionally kill an animal but I respect those that do hunt for meat. I eat meat; I'm not going to lie. For someone to kill an animal and use the meat for food is reasonable.
But for someone to kill an animal just for the “trophy” – for their antlers, their fur, their skin, their teeth, their nails and whatever else they might feel is justified, I only want to ask if they do so because they need to feel so high and mighty as to kill a defenceless animal?
To me, if you choose to do this, you are a very small person. There is a place reserved where the sun doesn't shine for all of you.
I pride Bates in saving many animals throughout his nearly 35-year-long career.
He said he arrested 1,700 poachers and was called to 2,000 road accidents involving wildlife throughout his career. Seven hundred of these cases involved animals that were suffering. They needed to be put down.
I have to wonder why some people feel animals are living merely for the access of humans when they are really just as important as us.
Why is it that people feel it's OK to harm animals? I wonder again why some feel bigger than animals. And what makes them bigger and better to the point where they feel they need to treat animals as if their lives are worthless?
I really can't fathom how a person can harm an innocent animal. There is no reason for it. But still the numbers are unacceptably high.
Animals don't have a voice. They can't tell us how they feel. We as humans need to be their voice. So let's stand up for what is right.
