I thought this might result in some passionate 'debate' and the use of some extreme 'what ifs' to illustrate individuals positions on the matter.
For myself I don't hunt but I do understand the need for a range of control measures to be in place in certain situations, I don't understand the 'sport' involved.
Wild animals are more likely than ever to come in contact with humans than ever before primarily due to our impact on their environment, destruction of habitat, the amount of waste we generate, the building of roads..the list goes on. The reality is we are where we are and it seems that more often now we hear of situations where there are 'problem' individual animals and possibly even packs and the situation needs to be controlled. This is why effective, enforced and sensible legislation needs to be in place.
As I've said before context is vital, no need to list the reprehensible outrages we see contantly and in these situations the context is clear although the chain of responsibility extends well beyond the hunter.
In the UK our problem in terms of animal human contact is relatively minor and is primarily to do with foxes particularly where they have moved into the urban environment where there seems to be an increasing occurence of foxes attacking domestic animals and in recent cases children. Now the vast majority of these stories will be apocryphal but not all.
Humane control falls to the Royal Society for Protection of Cruelty to Animals who have very good guidelines on living with foxes in town situations. Previously where a problem was identified many local authorities would destroy the fox, however as society has become more knowledgable about them this action is rarely if ever carried out.
My concern is that where there is a lack of policy and strategy then people might take matters into their own hands, setting traps, laying out poisons or worst of all, taking pot shots with entirely unsuitable weapons.
In Scotland we have a substantial Red Deer population that requires to be periodically 'culled' to reduce the risk of starvation and disease. Numbers vary depending on who you talk to about it, Heritage conservation groups say 300,000 or so, Gamekeepers say up to 700,000.......do you think there are vested interests operating here?
I've never killed a red deer but they've nearly killed me twice. Once when one jumped on to the bonnet of my car as I drove the family past Loch Maree in the west highlands of Scotland and the other time when I choked on a venison burger at Murrayfield ...... I don't eat venison any more
D