Online hunting sparks outrage in US

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Very strange, who would be interested in this?

Online hunting sparks outrage in US
05/04/2005 - 14:46:48

A new form of hunting which allows participants to shoot wild boar and antelope by a simple click of the mouse is stirring up great controversy in the United States.

Online hunting has outraged animal rights activists, gun advocates and politicians from 14 states, all trying to get the sport banned.

Participants control a video camera and a gun by remote control, carefully monitoring animals on a remote shooting range via the internet.

A click of the mouse from the comfort of your own armchair can discharge a round of bullets. For extra money, the meat or animal’s head can be shipped to your home.

Founders and members of Live-Shot.com insist the practice is ethical, and in particular allows the disabled to experience the thrill of the sport.

But the concept raises several ethical issues and critics have branded it “pay-per-view slaughterâ€.

The first paid-for live shoot is scheduled to take place on Saturday on a Texas ranch, the only online hunting facility in existence. But activists and politicians are racing to get it banned before it can begin.

The website warns participants this is not a video game. “This is real,†it says.

“What you see on your screen thru (sic) the camera is what is there. When you activate the fire control, you are sending a signal to the firing mechanism which discharges a round.â€

The website’s founder, John Lockwood, admits the concept would not appeal to everyone.

“The idea of hunting this way doesn’t appeal to me,†he told the Christian Science Monitor (CSM).

“Most of us love getting into the field. But there are many that cannot.â€

He said the idea was born from working with disabled hunters but he lists a soldier in Spain among supporters who wants to send meat to his family and a soldier in Iraq who simply misses the sport.

Mr Lockwood claims opponents simply do not understand how the system works and quite how many safety procedures are in place.

“I am in full agreement that there needs to be legislation and regulation controlling it,†he said. “But people are under the impression that this is a slaughtering machine and that’s not what it is.â€

Groups joining forces to ban the practice are as diverse as the Humane Society of the United States, trophy hunting organisation Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association.

Michael Markarian from the Humane Society told the CSM: “Nobody ever said the wilderness had to be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant.

“That is no justification for this practice, and it doesn’t give (disabled) people a true hunting experience anyway. It’s pay-per-view slaughter.â€

Virginia became the first state to ban internet hunting and Texas has proposed a ban for killing animals native to the state.

A Bill to outlaw online hunting for any species will be heard in the Texas House of Representatives next Tuesday.

http://breaking.tcm.ie/2005/04/05/story196709.html
 
Texas Parks & Wildlife, with their statutory authority over native game animals, has already outlawed this nonsense within "methods of taking game". The legislature is trying to figure out how to word it to include the exotics.

This whole deal just comes across to me as a money scam. No real difference between this and the "canned trophy hunts" for ancient lions and tigers who have one foot already in the grave and the others on banana peels.

The Pitiful PETA People dote on stuff like this, so they can rant about how "all hunters" lust after this sort of evil.

Art
 
I think a total of 1,603 people were outraged. But then again, when has a little thing like that stopped anyone? :rolleyes:
 
I DO NOT AGREE WITH ONLINE HUNTING AT ALL> IT DOES NOTHING BUT PUT us HUNTERS IN A BAD LIGHT> EVEN SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL< a conservative hunting organization is oppsed to this, this is not hunting but shooting. hunting imo is spiritual and a shot and trophy should be earned by hard work. this is just one step below shooting a caged animal or a canned hunt.
 
What about freedom?

The idea of online hunting doesn't not appeal to me at all. I think it is bizarre. HOWEVER: What about freedom? Must we have a law to regulate EVERYTHING? Why not just leave these people alone. They're not hurting anybody. Let the governments STAY AWAY! :banghead:
 
This is not hunting. Any ethical hunter will agree. Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a young bear chained to a tree, and this is far worse than that.
If they want to do something like that, why not set it up so the click of the mouse sends the spike through a hog's head at a slaughterhouse? More to the point, and anyone who would get a kick out of the 'hunting' idea would probably enjoy that, too.
It was probably some 'disinformation' started by PITA or some other terrorist organization to further discredit hunting.
 
You know, this reminds me of the fake website called hunting for bambi. You could go to Los Vegas and "hunt" nude young women with paintball guns. Cause a big uproar. It was a joke, but city and state officals wanted to bring some kind of charges agaist the person who started it.

-Bill
 
"Pay-per-view slaughter", hah. The antis come up with the funniest buzz terms ever. I don't see how that's any different from the rich guys that travel hundreds of miles and pay thousands of dollars to come hunt on a ranch.
 
Not everyone has the means to hunt YOUR WAy

This is not as offensive to me as all of you. I just don't see the big deal as long as the animals don't suffer and this is not a slaughter house type thing where 1 person sits and drops like 50 hogs a day.....What is the difference between this and hunting from a blind with grain or corn set out? Moral superiority complex wich is killing the country slowly.....Everone has to be like me :rolleyes:,or atleast do what I think is best ;).
 
A new form of hunting which allows participants to shoot wild boar and antelope by a simple click of the mouse is stirring up great controversy in the United States.

Actually, now that I stop to think about it, how does this differ from internet dating services?
 
The women on internet dating services tend to outweigh one by a greater factor than a Boar or Antelope.
 
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