Warning: Photo may disturb some readers; photo of lion trophy sparks debate over legal hunting

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 2/20/12 | Tom Stienstra

[SmithL]

The divide between those who live in rural areas and those from cities ruptured wide this past weekend across America in a debate over a provocative photo of California Fish and Game Commission President Dan Richards and a huge mountain lion he shot legally after an 8-hour hunt in Idaho.

Some comments on Facebook suggest that Richards should be the one hunted and shot, that he should be jailed, that is unethical to shoot anything you do not eat, and hunting of any kind is barbaric.

Most from rural backgrounds would see nothing wrong with the photo. Mountain lions are predators that kill lots of deer and other animals, including house pets and farm animals, and fewer of them means more of just about everything else. Same with coyotes. Since the hunt occurred in Idaho, where mountain lion hunting is legal, there was nothing illegal about anything Richards did.

The photo first appeared in Western Outdoor News at http://www.wonews.com/Blog.aspx?id=1646 as an innocuous sidebar to a column post by Paul Lebowitz, 2010 California Outdoor Writer of the Year. The Humane Society of the United States, an anti-hunting organization, then copied and circulated the photo around the country.

[sphinx]

Nice kitty. It's a shame to waste such a beautiful animal by hunting it.

It should have been humanely trapped, and then released at a PETA convention, to share the moment with the people who worship it.

[dainbramaged]

Back in the 60’s Outdoor Life magazine had a series about a homesteading family in northern Canada - they hunted everything that moved and cougar meat was the Dad’s favorite.

[ConservaTexan]

Does the San Francesspool Chronicle post a warning when they publish photos of gay pride events? Those are much more offensive than a picture of some guy holding a dead cat.

[ottbmare]

An off-topic correction: the HSUS doesn’t really want to tolerate even pet ownership. They are not just anti-zoo and anti-meat, but also anti-human contact. A quote from Wayne Pacelle, the president of the HSUS: “One generation and out,” he says, meaning that we should stop all production of domestic animals. The pets should be allowed to die off and not be replaced. No guide dogs, no companion cats, no ponies for kids, no trail-riding for me and my horse, no human-animal contact. If they can’t survive in the wild on their own, like my min-pin, that’s too bad, according to Wayne. And Wayne is working with a ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR annual budget to pay lobbyists so he can get his agenda passed. Much of that budget comes from the contributions of well-meaning people who think they’re giving donations that will help animals. Just the opposite is true.

[crghill]

I would agree with you except in the cases of nuisance animals or population control. South Texas needs its deer hunters backstrap steak or not.

[stormer]

That’s not a cat.

[P.O.E.]

I showed it my kitteh. She went and clawed the sofa. In protest, I suppose.

[wardaddy]

sobbing hysterically...the horror

[gundog]

How do you know he won't eat it? Mountain lion is a delicasy, though it' s the only big game animal which Oregon doesn't require the hunter to keep the meat from. (Man, that's a tortured sentence.)

[EQAndyBuzz]

“He’s just using the Heimlich maneuver because that big kitty has a liberal stuck in its throat.”

Then I have no respect for the hunter. He should let nature take its course and both liberal and lion die.

[Vision]

Can we get a barf alert on this?

No doubt the San Francisco author finds hunting shocking, but loves homosexual sodomy.

[rickomatic]

I don’t support just going out and trophy hunting for no reason other than to get a vanity item in your house. It’s the kind of mentality that leads to these amazing animals becoming endangered.

You're entitled to your opinion on trophy hunting, but your followup about it being the source of extinction is just plain wrong. Most wild animals became extinct or threatened not by trophy hunting, but market hunting. It is precisely sport and/or trophy hunting and the money spent on it that has helped to ensure the continuation of threatened species.

[PapaBear3625]

Fair enough on the pest control factor. If the mountain lion numbers are a problem and it is deemed the numbers need to be controlled or brought down for public safety, I support it. I don’t support just going out and trophy hunting for no reason other than to get a vanity item in your house. It’s the kind of mentality that leads to these amazing animals becoming endangered.

The problem is that the people who consider them endangered "amazing animals" will have wildly different ideas regarding what point the numbers need to be brought down.

My position would be to keep the numbers down to where the lions are killing far fewer deer than hunters are, while others might want to forego reducing the lion population until they are actually a public safety issue for humans.

[BO Stinkss]

If he wants to redeem himself with the SF libtards, then he should replace the cat in the photo with an aborted human fetus. Then they will no longer be offended and he will be their hero!

[Lurker]

So it’s an ‘evil disease’, but not a sin, then. Thanks.

[bobby.223]

The doggy sure looks, uh excited. about the entire thing to...

[NFHale]

Aww....look at that big, cuddly, soft, fuzzy kittycat!!! How cute!!!!

You shouldn’t shoot those - at least until you convince a couple of PETA/lib whackos that they should go up and try to HUG it first....

The stand back and watch the hilarity ensue!!! Bring a friend! And a video camera for “America’s Funniest Home Videos”...

[null and void]

My theory is keep your business off facebook. You will be happier and nosy people can fret about other people.

What Facebook is really doing...

[redhead]

"Dude, that thing eats people. Thanks for shooting it!"

The EXACT words I thought when I saw the picture!

[Sea Parrot]

I can understand the outrage in the lib city circles. Within their environs, they eat people. too.