Animal Cruelty Awareness

The question is not whether animal cruelty is immoral; it is whether or not hunting is a form of animal cruelty. Hunting is not a form of animal cruelty under any circumstances for many reasons. Hunting practices across the United States are much more humane than many slaughter houses in the meatpacking industry. Not only do hunting practices greatly benefit the environment, but they help society as well. Hunting limits animal populations from becoming too large, which is beneficial for almost every ecosystem. For example, without hunting, populations of deer would reach overwhelming numbers. If the deer population were to get too high and reach climax capacity, disease and starvation would occur. Chronic Wasting Disease, a disease most prevalent among deer and other cervid species, is a disease that directly affects the animal’s neurological system. Results associated with CWD include loss of body condition, behavioral abnormalities, and eventually death. If overpopulation were to occur, deer would have to travel farther and wider for food. This search would lead them to farm fields and the consumption of crops that would otherwise go to the consumer, the people of America. Many other animals also feed upon the same foods on which deer consume. This would cause competition among species, and would greatly affect the ecological web. Deer related accidents are responsible for over 1.5 million accidents per year. By nature, man is an omnivore, and has been so since his roots began. Predatory hunting for consumption is not immoral because a man’s right to life far outweighs an animal’s. Because hunting practices are, in many cases, more humane than in slaughter houses, and does far more good than bad, it cannot be considered immoral.