Sport Hunting Research Paper
Sport hunting is unnecessary, cruel, and dangerous. There are many hunting related deaths, and not just to the hunters or the animals. A hunter could miss the animal and hit an innocent bystander! Hunting is also very cruel to animals, because if a hunter hurts an animal but does not kill it, the animal could suffer a long, painful death. You might not agree with me now, but perhaps you will by the time you're finished reading. Sure, sport hunting might be fun, but not for the animals being hunted. According to PETA, killing an animal because it might starve or could die from disease is wasteful. (Halloway 2) Hunters might argue that it helps lower the population, but that's actually not true. "Wildlife maintenance agencies
intentionally keep deer populations high for hunters"; and when a hunter kills an animal, since that animal no longer consumes food, it provides a food surplus for the rest, ultimately raising the population by accelerating the breeding rate! Most hunters say that they're preventing Lyme disease by killing deer, but contrary to popular belief, Lyme disease is spread by mice, not deer! (Lin 2) Now we get into a reason why hunting is actually dangerous to people.
I mentioned hunters missing the animal and hitting someone else earlier. But this is different. Hunters argue that by killing deer, they lower the risk of deer running onto roads and getting hit by cars; however, car/deer collisions actually increase during hunting season due to getting frightened onto roads. It is also common for wounded deer to run wildly onto highways and provide a grave risk to commuters! So to recap, sport hunting is cruel, because a wounded (but not killed) animal will suffer greatly; unnecessary, because it doesn't lower the population or prevent Lyme disease; and dangerous, because it increases the chance of cars hitting deer. Your opinion might not have changed. You might still like sport hunting. That's fine with me, there are a few benefits as well. Just think before you shoot a deer next time!
intentionally keep deer populations high for hunters"; and when a hunter kills an animal, since that animal no longer consumes food, it provides a food surplus for the rest, ultimately raising the population by accelerating the breeding rate! Most hunters say that they're preventing Lyme disease by killing deer, but contrary to popular belief, Lyme disease is spread by mice, not deer! (Lin 2) Now we get into a reason why hunting is actually dangerous to people.
I mentioned hunters missing the animal and hitting someone else earlier. But this is different. Hunters argue that by killing deer, they lower the risk of deer running onto roads and getting hit by cars; however, car/deer collisions actually increase during hunting season due to getting frightened onto roads. It is also common for wounded deer to run wildly onto highways and provide a grave risk to commuters! So to recap, sport hunting is cruel, because a wounded (but not killed) animal will suffer greatly; unnecessary, because it doesn't lower the population or prevent Lyme disease; and dangerous, because it increases the chance of cars hitting deer. Your opinion might not have changed. You might still like sport hunting. That's fine with me, there are a few benefits as well. Just think before you shoot a deer next time!