ASK UNCLE JOE
BY JOE MIELE
GOT A QUESTION FOR UNCLE JOE? YOU CAN E-MAIL IT TO
ASKUNCLEJOE@HOTMAIL.COM .
WOULD YOU RATHER SNAIL MAIL YOUR QUESTION? SEND IT TO:
ASK UNCLE JOE, C/O WILDLIFE WATCH, BOX 562, NEW PALTZ, NY 12561.
UNCLE JOE GETS A LOT OF MAIL SO DON’T BE OFFENDED IF HE CANNOT ANSWER
YOUR QUESTION IN THE COURIER. HECK, HE’S GOTTA WORK A DAY JOB, TOO.
Letters are printed as received. They are unedited.
Dear Uncle Joe:
One article you posted a person said that they were threaten by a
hunter on their own land and then turned around and said the person was
a felon and wasn’t supposed to even own a gun. Well guess what? That guy
is no more a hunter than you are. He is a convicted felon and a menace
to society and should not be called a hunter. He is a criminal that was
breaking the freaking law.,.. not a hunter. People that poach and
slaughter animals out of season AREN’T HUNTERS either. they are
CRIMINALS that are breaking the law, NOT HUNTERS. Orginazations like
your’s that make out that ALL HUNTING is a bad thing and that ALL
hunters are barbaric, orginazation like yours should be outlawed and
sued into submission for spreading false propeganda, Half Truths and out
right Lies. I hope your group falls apart at the seams and drowns in
it’s own foul stench.
Denny S.
Saratoga, WY
Dear Denny:
Thanks for your kind wishes for C.A.S.H.
We often hear from hunters who, like you, accuse felons and those who
cannot seem to stay within incredibly liberal game laws of not being
“real” hunters. Regardless of whether or not laws are obeyed, those who
stalk, lure, or bait animals for the purpose of killing them are no
different to the animals whose outcome is the same. The wild animal
killers’ victims are no less dead when killed by a “hunter” who obeys
all the game laws than they are when killed by a “poacher” who violates
one, several, or all game laws. But the fact remains that for too many,
killing animals is something that they do for fun and/or profit, and a
little thing like the law, which rarely gets enforced due to the lack of
law enforcement officers, will not always get in the way of their
mission.
As for your wish that organizations like C.A.S.H. be outlawed, it is
also something that we’ve heard before. Be careful what you wish for,
for your favorite pastimes may be the next to be outlawed.
Peace,
Uncle Joe
Dear Uncle Joe:
I prefer to hunt and harvest my own food when I can. I am connected
enough to the land to know where food comes from, and I don’t mean the
grocery store. Maybe everyone at your organization is a vegan. More
power to you, but do you realize the number of animals are displaced by
converting land to farmland. This displacement causes them to lose
habitat, become visible to predators, increases disease, etc.
Brent M.
Athens, TX
Dear Brent:
Thank you for contacting Uncle Joe. Believe it or not, we at C.A.S.H.
find it admirable that you are concerned about the way the nation’s food
supply is brought to our dinner tables. I suspect you have concerns
about the quality and safety of store bought meat, and we agree that
your concerns are valid. We differ in the way we address those concerns.
C.A.S.H. does not require its members to be vegan, vegetarian or to
adhere to any kind of diet or lifestyle. The officers and decision
makers within the group are vegans, but there is nothing in our bylaws
that requires this to be so.
We recognize that one does not have to be a practicing vegan to be
concerned with the actions of state and federal fish and game agencies
and the actions they take to promote sport hunting.
You are indeed right that when fields are plowed and farms created,
many thousands of animals lose their homes and many others lose their
lives. Sadly, this is a reality that we wish were not the case. However,
plant-based agriculture (ideally organic, sustainable agriculture) does
not inflict the constant and continuous loss of animal life that is
required to satisfy one’s desire for meat. Farming corn, collard greens
or peas is certainly not as environmentally destructive as the massive
feedlots that “farm” the 35+ million cows Americans eat each year or the
incredibly wasteful hog facilities that are an absolute environmental
nightmare.
Many of our members don’t agree with killing animals to eat them, but
that is not the focus of our organization. Our efforts focus on the
abuses and anti-environmental practices that are a routine part of a
typical state game agency’s modus operandi.
We understand that many people do not share our opinion when it comes
to sport hunting, trapping and the role state and federal wildlife
agencies play in creating many of the problems associated with wildlife.
We hope that in time, as you continue to read the C.A.S.H. Courier and
website, you will change your opinion and come to share our views.
Peace,
Uncle Joe
