Respect for animals

Brodie Thomas
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For a few fleeting moments last week, the eyes of the nation turned to our coast.

There was Peter Mansbridge himself, in the CBC National Newsroom, standing in front of videos shot by Cape Ray resident Bert Osmond.

The images were not pretty: dolphins struggling in shallow water, surrounded by sea ice. The water was red with blood from the animals.

Residents who learned of the dolphins' struggle were calling DFO Sunday afternoon and evening, trying to do something for the suffering animals.

In the end, there was nothing they could do, and nature was allowed to take its course.

At almost the same time, residents in the Codroy Valley were out feeding geese that have been starving due to this wickedly cold winter.

It brings to mind comments made by fisherman and seal hunter Carl Hedderson in last week's edition of The Gulf News.

He was delivering lessons to local fishermen on how to humanely kill seals. He pointed out that he wouldn't kill a seal out of season. He has caught them in his nets, and let them go.

He said when he does kill a seal, he wants the animal to die quickly and painlessly if at all possible.

He said the same goes for moose. Just because he hunts them in the fall, doesn't mean he won't help them in the spring.

It is not hypocritical for people to rescue animals at one time, and harvest them at another. The rescuing and the harvesting are two sides of the same coin. It all comes down to respect for the animals.

The average hunter and harvester from the southwest coast arguably has more respect for the animals they hunt and harvest than the city-dwelling vegan who donates to PETA.

The hunter has a symbiotic relationship with the animals he takes. He has a vested interest in seeing the species survive. He knows the animal first hand and has seen the animal in its native environment.

When we sit down to a meal of locally harvested game we are not somehow in opposition to the environment. In eating that food we are taking part in the environment.

That is why so many local residents were broken-hearted to see those dolphins struggling in the ice.

You won't see Bert Osmond's video on PETA websites, or hear how it broke his heart to hear those animals struggling. But we don't need to prove anything to those extremists. We know we have respect for the animals every time we sit down at the kitchen table.


Geographic location: Codroy Valley

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Recent comments

  • wayne Osmond
    March 24, 2014 - 16:33

    Spot on Brodie Thomas. There are those who will never understand what it's like to hunt for food. Most go to the Supermarkets and Fast Food Outlets and consume animals without ever seeing the way it lived or was killed. Those of us who do hunt and eat what we take know full well what it's all about. I have probably seen more wildlife in the past 7 days then some will experience in decades.

  • Charlene Myers
    March 24, 2014 - 13:38

    What a crock of BS. Sounds like the argument a child molester would make when he says that he loves children.