Well, today I hit the NZ Herald website and was shocked by the 23 seals clubbed to death story. Evidence is that these attacks have been sustained over a week, and 8 pups are included in that tally.
Such callous brutality is sickening at so many levels. There is nothing admirable about someone who can derive pleasure from beating a defenseless, small seal pup to death. And to do it 8 times. Shudder.
Ever get the feeling that some people are just depriving some rare crocodile species of some useful protein? Here’s hoping that the culprits will be caught and justice done. With a strong punitive edge for deterrence.
Juvenile Fur Seal
Itchy Fur Seal
Some days I’m ashamed to be a human Dec 06
6 Comments
6 Comments Leave a comment
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Brendan Moyle 898 days ago
Yes, I’ve noticed. Although in this case charges can also be laid on the basis of the Marine Mammal protection Act & that provides for very stiff penalties.
One of the issues with wildlife laws though, is that often Governments adjust upwards the maximum sentences. These are rarely (if ever) applied. Okay- China does apply the death penalty to tiger or panda poaching. But in most countries, the maximum penalties are rarely employed.
This has led to some thought that if we want to increase deterrence, we should be increasing the minimum sanction and not the maximum instead :)
Anyway you look at it, it’s a very disturbing story.
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Michael Edmonds 898 days ago
On the other hand, there are times when I am proud to be a human – when people rally around the families of the 29 West Coast miners, when someone risks their life to pull someone out from in front of a train, when emergency workers leave their own earthquake damaged houses behind to help others.. and so on.
I also have to wonder what kind of upbringing may have resulted in someone doing something so cruel. Is it possible that given the same upbringing, I could possibly do the same?
I think it is too easy to advocate for harsh penalties, however, I have to wonder whether they would:
1) make such acts less likely (evidence suggests not)
2) rehabilitate the purpetrator (unlikely) -
Brendan Moyle 897 days ago
Yes :) didn’t claim it was a ubiquitous feeling.
I know a lot of people who work very hard to try to sustain and protect all kinds of wildlife, often in difficult & challenging circumstances.That’s what makes this instance so horrifying in part. It’s such a callous & horrifying attitude.
I have to wonder also at the mentality. Inevitably in any conservation work, you have to kill animals. But that’s typically done in ways that are consistent with animal welfare. Assuming that this was some perceived conflict over fishing, it still doesn’t explain the brutality and cruelty of the attacks.
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aimee whitcroft 897 days ago
Stuff like this (and there’ve been a number of horrible animal cruelty incidences in NZ recently) simply confirm that I made the right decision when joining the Voluntary Human Extinction movement…
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Brendan Moyle 897 days ago
Tempting, but some days I think the ‘Human Involuntary Extinction Movement’ is far more influential … (ok, I can be cynical too)
‘Hear hear!’ on the deterrence thing. Unfortunately the courts have sometimes tended to err on the side of caution in animal abuse cases; the maximum penalty is fairly stiff but it isn’t applied all that often.