In a letter to Shaquille O’Neal faxed today, PETA asks that he abandon his penchant for "canned hunting." In canned hunts, animals, sometimes "retired" from zoos and circuses and often hand-fed to promote tameness, are kept in fenced areas and then shot at close range for a fee paid by trophy seekers. Citing the ideals of fair play and sportsmanship, PETA is calling on Shaq to stick to competitions in which the opponent has a real fighting chance.
On some "game farms," animals may be tethered to the ground; others are former zoo animals who have lost their natural fear of humans and make no effort to flee. The common factor in all canned hunts is that the odds have been manipulated so that the animal has no chance to survive. Canned hunting is denounced by mainstream hunters as cruel and unsporting.
If Shaq wants to abuse a living being, he should pick on someone his own size, like Todd McCullough," says PETA’s Animals in Sports Campaign coordinator Dan Shannon. "He should practice shooting free-throws, not shooting animals."
For more information, please visit PETA.org .
The letter follows.
Dear Mr. O’Neal:
I am writing on behalf of the 750,000 members and supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It has come to our attention that you are a fan of barbaric "canned hunts." This news will surprise a lot of people. Your fans respect you for your adherence to fair play and sportsmanship, values that do not exist in canned hunting. We are hoping that you’ll reconsider your involvement and dissociate yourself from this cowardly and mean-spirited form of "entertainment," which comes at the expense of animals’ lives.
Those you "slaughter" on the basketball court have a choice in the matter and live to tell the tale. Animals in canned hunts have no choice and no chance to survive. They are imprisoned on game farms, where they are often hand-fed in order to tame them, and spend their short lives waiting for some lazy schmuck to come along and pay to shoot them within a fenced enclosure. They have no chance to run or escape and are too gentle to fight back. The animals you hunt have less of a chance against you than the New Jersey Nets. Won’t you please focus on hunting for the NBA championship trophy and abandon trophy hunting?
Mr. O’Neal, please chuck this deadly "hobby" of yours in favor of a compassionate way to let off steam and show your true moral strength. Please let us know that you have rejected canned hunting like a Jason Kidd jumper. Our members and supporters are eager to hear that you have.
Sincerely,
Dan Shannon
Sports Campaign Coordinator
On some "game farms," animals may be tethered to the ground; others are former zoo animals who have lost their natural fear of humans and make no effort to flee. The common factor in all canned hunts is that the odds have been manipulated so that the animal has no chance to survive. Canned hunting is denounced by mainstream hunters as cruel and unsporting.
If Shaq wants to abuse a living being, he should pick on someone his own size, like Todd McCullough," says PETA’s Animals in Sports Campaign coordinator Dan Shannon. "He should practice shooting free-throws, not shooting animals."
For more information, please visit PETA.org .
The letter follows.
Dear Mr. O’Neal:
I am writing on behalf of the 750,000 members and supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It has come to our attention that you are a fan of barbaric "canned hunts." This news will surprise a lot of people. Your fans respect you for your adherence to fair play and sportsmanship, values that do not exist in canned hunting. We are hoping that you’ll reconsider your involvement and dissociate yourself from this cowardly and mean-spirited form of "entertainment," which comes at the expense of animals’ lives.
Those you "slaughter" on the basketball court have a choice in the matter and live to tell the tale. Animals in canned hunts have no choice and no chance to survive. They are imprisoned on game farms, where they are often hand-fed in order to tame them, and spend their short lives waiting for some lazy schmuck to come along and pay to shoot them within a fenced enclosure. They have no chance to run or escape and are too gentle to fight back. The animals you hunt have less of a chance against you than the New Jersey Nets. Won’t you please focus on hunting for the NBA championship trophy and abandon trophy hunting?
Mr. O’Neal, please chuck this deadly "hobby" of yours in favor of a compassionate way to let off steam and show your true moral strength. Please let us know that you have rejected canned hunting like a Jason Kidd jumper. Our members and supporters are eager to hear that you have.
Sincerely,
Dan Shannon
Sports Campaign Coordinator
