Hunting Wild Animals Is Immoral

Wild animals should be treated with respect by everyone because they are living, breathing, and have minds. They should be left to live naturally in the wild, free of human interference, predation, or habitat destruction. Sporting activities like hunting and fishing are brutal ways to assert dominance over wild and exotic animals. In our homes, mounted heads or bodies do not demonstrate the respect we ought to have for the wild animals in our surroundings. If we simply acknowledge that both native and exotic animals have the right to live, we can learn to coexist with them.

The morality of hunting is the subject of heated debate each year as daylight hours decrease and trees become bare. The killing of deer, ducks, moose, and other quarries is seen by hunters as ethical because it is humane, necessary, and natural. Critics counter that hunting is a cruel and pointless activity that should make one ashamed of themselves.

Some animals have even vanished entirely due to hunting! Like us, some animals form very strong bonds with their families. A person's family should never be hunted. After being shot two or three times, some deer shot by hunters only die. Others are injured but do not die immediately, and they endure pain for at least 15 minutes before passing away. Other animals like cows, horses, dogs, and cats—as well as hikers and other hunters—have been injured or killed in hunting accidents.

Subsistence hunting is the deliberate killing of wild animals for food and other necessities. The whales' value to Native American tribes as a means of subsistence partly justifies agreements allowing them to hunt them. Sport hunting is the deliberate killing of wild animals for pleasure or satisfaction. Sport hunters are those who go after deer for the thrill of the experience or to collect antlers to hang on a wall.