The killing of Cecil the lion by Walter Palmer for sport has engendered a lot of passionate reaction from such groups as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and individuals such as Betty White. According to an article in the Washington Post and several other sources officials at PETA have “called for Palmer to be charged, tried and if found guilty “preferably hanged.”
Betty White is reputed to have said, “You do not want to hear some of the things that I want to do to that man. (Associated press as reported in St. Petersburg Tribune on Saturday, August 1, 2015, page 2).
Zimbabwe had called for his extradition so that he could be tried on the charge that he killed the lion after he was lured out of a private property. According to authorities Mr. Palmer first shot Cecil with a bow and arrow wounding him and 40 hours later, after hunting it down, shot and killed it. Mr. Palmer maintains that the guides to whom he paid a large sum of money assured him that all was legal.
Even the United Nations General Assembly “unanimously adopted a resolution Thursday aiming at combating illegal wildlife trafficking and poaching, the culmination of a two-year campaign led by Gabon and Germany.”(Associated press article entitled “Cecil the lion was lured from park before being killed” by Farai Mutsaka published in St. Petersburg Tribune on August 1, 2015 on page 9).
Such esteemed philosophers as Jeremy Benthan, Jean Jacque Rosseau, John Locke, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and many others have long debated the question of the rights of animals. In 1635 Ireland because the first country to enact an animal protection law. It outlawed the “pulling of wool off of sheep”.
Many Native American tribes believe animals deserve respect. They are hunted, but only for food, and the hunter must first ask permission of the animal’s spirit. They must also thanks given to the animal. When I lived in Southeast Alaska the Tlingit and Haida Indians were appalled when hunters would come to kill animals for sports, often leaving them lying where they were killed.
My friends range from Vegans to those who enjoy eating fish and meat. None of my friends condone the killing of animals for sport. All would say that Mr. Palmer and all those he paid to assist him need to be accountable for their disrespectful and probably illegal behavior. Certainly if Mr. Palmer had an extra $55,000.0 there is much good he could have done with that money. Hunting for sport is not something, which I believe, is ever an okay activity.
At the same time I am not convinced that Mr. Palmer is a terrible, evil person deserving to be treated with less than respect. What he did was unkind, immoral and stupid. He clearly does not or did not have any belief, which honored the sacredness of all life including plants and animals. And yes, I think he needs to be invited to explore a different relationship with animals. I also think that he needs to find a way to make amends to both animals and the people of Zimbabwe. I do not think that he is a less sacred person than those good people who are involved in animal rights organizations.
I personally get very confused when it seems as if some people have more concern for animals than they do other humans. To call for him to be hanged is no different in my mind that suggesting that if a lion such as Cecil destroys another animals he deserves to be killed.
In other words, my belief is that we humans, no matter what our intelligence quotient on the charts, often are very stupid when it comes to recognizing that all of life is interdependent. In fact not only all of life, but all of creation, including minerals and other so-called non-living substances are necessary for the continued existence of all life forms. Are we humans to be hung every time we act as humans? Are lions and other animals to be killed when they act as the animal they were created to be? Certainly I am not going to put a child in an open area with a lion or other animal, which might hurt the child. The life of the child is sacred. On the other hand I am not going to expect the lion to lie down with the lamb just yet!
Personally I like and appreciate the practices of many Native American Tribes of only killing for food and only then when we do so with gratitude and in a way, which does not cause undue suffering. I also can understand and respect those who do not believe it is ethical or moral to eat any living being – fish or meat.
It seems to be that when we humans begin to so sure that our way of thinking is “the right way” that we are in danger of negating the very sacredness of all life forms. Of course, it is possible that someone has developed a very logical approach to deciding which of our “sins”/ways of hurting each other make us less then. My personal belief is that I must daily work to be as intentional as humanly possible to live with loving respect and appreciation for all which enriches and sustains me in this brief life journey. I have not yet figured out a system for deciding that I am better or less then any other human or animal!
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