Letter - A lifestyle choice
Illawarra Mercury, Page: 21. Thursday, 29 October 2009
Brian Jones of Warilla seems to have worked himself up into quite a frenzy over what is a fairly straightforward and sensible piece of legislation.
Despite what the Greens and other doomsayers are spruiking, the act proposed by the Shooters Party does not invite wholesale slaughter of native animals, nor uncontrolled mayhem being released into the parks and forests of NSW.
Victoria has had public land hunting for many years, and, yes, even in some national parks. Yet the world hasn’t ended, the natives aren’t extinct and not one innocent bushwalker, bird watcher or horse rider has been shot.
The writer obviously can’t cope with the fact that as omnivores humans eat meat as part of a balanced diet. This does not mean that those of us who make a lifestyle choice to be an active participant in the process of obtaining said meat are evil men that must be demonised at every turn.
Hunters come from all walks of life and range from professionals to blue-collar workers.
Their lifestyle injects many dollars into rural and metropolitan economies, and then there are the health benefits of an active outdoor lifestyle and the reduction in introduced species through hunting.
Hunters make a lifestyle choice about their food and it’s their right to choose how they live their lives within the constraints of the laws of society.
Brian doesn’t have to share their beliefs, or their lifestyle -he just has to accept the fact that what I and other hunters do is lawful, healthy, safe and, when measured against these key principals, really none of his business.
Greg Benton, Wangaratta.
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