The Norman Transcript

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October 28, 2012

A morgue is not a museum

The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — Editor, The Transcript:

On Monday, Oct. 15, The Transcript published an article on the front page titled: “Bringing big game to town.” The article was about a local dentist and his apparent pleasure associated with killing animals.

Evidently he enjoys blowing holes in animals so much that he wants to display their bodies or body parts for all to see and to call this exhibition of death and violence a “museum.” The article included several pictures showing the dentist and the corpses of his victims.

“Sport” or “trophy” hunting can be understood as the experience of pleasure as a result of terrorizing and unnecessarily killing an animal. Thankfully, most humans do not generally view pleasure as being connected with the gratuitous and unnecessary death of a living being.

The dentist is quoted as saying he has always “loved the outdoors”... however clarification of why blowing holes in animals and killing them is related to “loving” the outdoors is absent. It is difficult to see how the wanton killing of a living being is related to “love.” It is rather sad that an educated professional seems to be unable to come up with ways of providing education or information about our fellow Earthlings without causing suffering and death.

Hunting, which is a general euphemism for ambushing and killing animals with firearms and other weapons, is referenced in the article as an “adventure.” It is doubtful that the animal victims view it as as such. Most folks are aware that “loving” and unnecessary killing are very different things. Tracking, ambushing and killing animals causes fear, pain and death for the victims. Exhibiting the dead bodies of the victims of some prolonged killing spree does not constitute a “museum”...that’s a morgue.

GLENN LANE

Norman

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