LettersLetter to the Editor from Linda Gould Steffey about Hunting - 19 Dec 2007
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Letter to the Editor from Linda Gould Steffey about Hunting - 19 Dec 2007

Dear Editor, THE SMITHFIELD TIMES, INC.;

Controversy sells papers. In particular, the "letters to the editor" section of all papers help sell papers. It gives people a voice to air their opinions, likes and dislikes! It is our "right" to state what we believe to be true based on facts or to state what we believe in our hearts....period!

I have a basic "right" to voice my objection to hunting based on what I know from studies and research. Anyone interested in what hunting is really about has this same right as I do. Go investigate it yourselves if you really care about the lives of innocent animals who are slaughtered yearly all around the world.

In fact, only 2% of the world's hunters actually EAT what they hunt. That leaves a lot of killing of animals for "fun", "sport", and greed; heads on walls and such things as elephants legs used as small tables, tusks made into jewelry and on and on. It is known as a "blood sport".

I have been harassed by hunters while just driving down the road all because I have a "quiet" bumper sticker on my car. It does not harm life! It simply makes a statement! That is MY right!!! I have had hunters drive by and stick out their tongues at me, try to side-swipe my car, and also, give me "the finger"!! That tells me a lot about their mind -set. That tells me a lot about how they view the earth and living creatures! That tells me how they feel about others who share the road with them as they speed with their beer coolers in the back with their dogs who might not live after they return home depending on whether a certain dog ran after their poor prey well or not.

My uncle hunted as did my grandfather, but it was to put FOOD on the table back in the 20's, 30's, and 40's and by golly, I do not have a problem with hunting to EAT! They never hunted to kill and laugh later about how many shots it took and how the animal suffered before it died, how funny it was and leave it there to rot. I have witnessed this kind of disregard for life while eating my lunches in restaurants and forced to listen to these buzzards disrespect for living creatures as they ate near by. Disgusting.

I have written many letters over the years about speeding and car accidents as well as addressing many other topics. For instance, how we treat our own Native Americans! More Native Americans were killed than Jews during the war, but no one cares about them either.

I hate to have to remind a certain person here at this point, but I do NOT have control over what letters are printed in the Smithfield Times! I am NOT the "editor". Like everyone else, I simply send them in. A non-hunter might already have come to this conclusion by now, Hey! Non-hunters? And just because a lawyer or a doctor hunts for "fun" and "relaxation"....doesn't make it less cruel, or "right", and it's a pitiful waste of EVERYONE's wildlife!! It is high time to stop the "blood sports" like bull fights, cock fights, dog fights and HUNTING for "SPORT", because it surely is not "sport" for the animals and it surely isn't an equal match in power.

Linda Gould Steffey


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