Hunting Animals: Good or Bad?

One of the hot button issues still plaguing America is the idea of hunting animals. The topics that are hotly debated within this issue are environmentalism, hunting as a necessity versus sport, animal over-population and conservation, and human interaction with animals.

The side that supports hunting is usually hunters or hunting advocates. The RMEF (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation), a foundation that supports the idea that hunting is conservation, states that humans help animals of prey to flourish by killing predators. Many regular run-of-the-mill people are hunters, and support the idea that hunting isn’t just conservation, but also it also gives families the sustenance they need and helps to reduce diseases spread by some wild animals. In addition, the RMEF and other hunters believe that hunting brings many Americans, who do not live near the wilderness, back to nature in a healthy way.

The opposite of that are animal conservationists and people who support the animal rights movement. The strongest and most well-known animal rights group in America is PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals). PETA believes that hunting does no good for either the hunters or the animals. PETA and their more extreme counterpart The Animal Liberation Front states that killing animals in any way is cruel, unnecessary, and can sometimes harm hunters in hunting and gun accidents as much as animals.

Hunting is considered by many to be both good and bad for people and the environment. Either way, it is a topic of discussion that is not going away any time soon, regardless of the opinions on either side of this issue.

Works Cited

Animal Liberation Front. Hunting: It’s bad for animals, it’s bad for America. Web. 2006. http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Practical/Fishing--Hunting/Hunting/Hunting-badforanimals.htm

PETA. Why Sport Hunting is Cruel and Unnecessary. Web. Accessed 21 October 2013. http://www.peta.org/issues/Wildlife/why-sport-hunting-is-cruel-and-unnecessary.aspx

RMEF. 25 Reasons Why Hunting is Conservation. Web. Accessed 21 October 2013. http://www.rmef.org/Conservation/HuntingIsConservation/25ReasonsWhyHuntingIsConservation.aspx

Scientific American. Does Hunting Help or Hurt the Environment? Web. 10 November 2009. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=earth-talks-hunting

Tsol, M. Why Hunting is good for the Environment. Made Manual. Web. 2010 April 21. http://www.mademan.com/mm/why-hunting-good-environment.html