Eleven people in Oregon have been charged in what have been described as “kind of demented social club” that would kill and even decapitate animals in thrill kills that became a massacre. The poachers killed bears, deer, and other animals in a disgusting competition of who could rack up the greatest number of kills. Despite the carnage, they only face misdemeanors, albeit over 100 such charges. Police have already confirmed seven bobcats, four cougars, five bear, 35 deer and one silver gray squirrel among the trophy kills.
The Seattle Times reported that an investigation was launched after the discovery of multiple animals without their heads. They set up cameras and spotted a truck and hunters carrying rifles. They later seized photos and videos.
The different treatment under state law is put into sharp relief by the case. For those facing charges in Washington, felonies can be brought but in Oregon only misdemeanors are allowed. That itself is as shocking as the killing spree. Oregon needs to amend its criminal code to deal with such such depraved individuals.
As many on this blog know, I am an avid hiker who loves to share pictures of these animals in the wild. I have never understood trophy hunting or the sheer pleasure of killing the beautiful animals. There is obviously something missing in your life where your favorite past-time is to compete for the most living things that you can kill, including shooting animals along the road.
CV Brown – I get everyone’s comments by email. My responses are not spam, each is individualized. I multi-task while I am writing my comments. Currently, I am watching a documentary on building on the sand islands off Dubai. CV, I am hurt that you think I would do this for a place on the top standing list. I have already been number one and I didn’t even know the list existed. I really do not care because there is no way to tell when it kicks in.
Has anyone blamed the NRA yet?
This is so creepy. I wonder how many of the eleven will eventually turn to killing people? There is a clear distinction between hunting (during hunting season) for food and this craziness!
Hit them where it hurts, can a judge take their guns away?
FishWings – I think Fish and Game can prevent them from getting a tag ever again. Since it is a misdemeanor they can keep their weapons. That is my opinion and I am not a lawyer and do not play one on TV. 🙂
What if they used the gun or other as bow and arrow, poaching or other illegal hunting. Then a judge should have the right to take them away no?
FishWings – if it is a felony and they are convicted they lose the right to bear arms. However, with a misdemeanor, I think you have to get Fish and Game involved. You cannot take the guns away, just their privilege to hunt.
Thanks, just thought if they were hunting illegally, depending on the state it might be a crime. I know in alot of states if you shine deer at night, they will take the gun.
FishWings – if you are spotlighting deer it is usually Fish and Game who nab you. Then they take the animal and the weapon. I think you can fight to get the weapon back.
Around 80 AD the Roman Coliseum was constructed so that the public could enjoy for entertainment, watching the suffering and death of humans and animals. Not much has changed for about half the population. The other half seems to have advanced to a level of recognizing a lust for violence as mental dysfunction.
Not much has changed for about half the population.
Yeah, the half which favors legal abortion.
Do try to be less clueless in the conceits your offer.
Addendum,
I’m a clueless busybody sticking my nose in anybody’s post.
My last 2 cents
I’m a heady, high-minded, false accuser and proud, without natural affection.
Chris P Bacon:
You must know that half of the population of the United States, or roughly 163 million people, do not actually enjoy watching the suffering and death of humans and animals for entertainment. That is actually one of the symptoms of antisocial or psychopathic behavior. In addition, were it true, then the US would never have been able to pass any of the laws against cruelty to animals.
Even those who kill animals, birds, and fish for food, do not revel in killing, but rather feel accomplishment in putting food on the table.
The current political trend of attributing evil tendencies to a majority of people who disagree with you, or with the population of our country, is elitist and anathema to conversation. After all, if you actually believe that half the world is evil, how do you heel toe it through your day, buying coffee, groceries, and going to work, knowing in your heart that half of the people with whom you engage with are psychopaths?
There are consequences to this world view that are detrimental to a tolerant society.
Our species deserves an asteroid.
Be patient.
David Benson – STILL owes me a citation from the OED. My money is on the Yellowstone Supervolcano taking us out first. I have two years supply of food and enough ammo for 30 days.
Yellowstone will be much more patient than that, I assure you.
But you are tritely tiresome…
David Benson – the clock is counting down to the time to leave for the library to get my citation from the OED.
The Yellowstone Supervolcano has been rumbling and active. It may not be as patient as you think. Geysers are erupting that have not erupted for years. Minor quakes are occurring. Ground swelling is occurring.
Daves – when you are feeling suicidal due to environmental concerns, please recall that ours is the only species in existence on our planet who actively strive to save other species and protect the environment. No other creature on Earth is altruistic to that level. They may have symbiotic relationships with other species, but they do not sacrifice their own resources for the sole purpose of saving other species and habitat.
Other organisms simply grow and spread, and if they consume all resources, they either move on or starve.
Assuming they guilty I vote for the maximum sentence for each. I support legalized hunting, but I hate poachers.
I totally can’t fathom why anyone would be proud of killing a cub.
because, for these guys it was more sporting than shooting a cub and her mother hibernating in a cave.
“Anyone” would not be proud killing a cub. These “hunters” are murderers and suspect that the law will find other criminal conduct. They should be put away. PETA NEEDS TO GET TO OREGON IN A HURRY!
PETA kills millions of animals, including kittens and puppies, every year, within hours of obtaining them and with no effort to find them homes. Their “shelters” are more like slaughterhouses for pet animals. They have a 1% adoption rate. They particularly target pit bulls to kill, and promote legislation banning the owning of bully breeds.
Do you really think PETA needs more of a presence in Oregon?
Here is an article about how PETA settled a lawsuit in which they took a dog from her property and then killed her only hours later.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/killing-animals-petas-open-secret_us_59e78243e4b0e60c4aa36711
PETA is a disgusting organization. It is no exaggeration to put them on a par with these savages in Oregon who killed all those wild animals. Only they do it under the color of an animal welfare organization.
Well, these gap toothed morons aren’t just anybody, they’re the dregs of society.
What a sad waste. And that bear was only a cub. You kill animals to eat, or in defense, but not for fun.
One of the early warning signs for psychopaths is torturing and killing animals, which is different than legitimate hunts. In addition to charges, these guys need a psych eval.
Also, although hunting is legal, it is regulated so that a few people don’t kill all the game. So there is the criminal law of poaching. Aside from that, you are not legally required to consume the meat. In areas where Chronic Wasting Disease is spreading, for example, it’s not recommended. But wasting life like that was unethical.
“You kill animals to eat, or in defense, but not for fun.”
Then why do they call it, “sport” and “recreation”?
Why is hunting and fishing a sport?
Because it takes skill to find and land a fish, for example. You can’t go bring your marching band out on a boat and catch a fish at noon. Are anglers and fly fisherman savages who thrill in blood and guts, or do they like to catch large fish? Is choosing or making just the right lure all about blood sport? Is that what fishing is all about? If you like fishing does that mean that you do it because you really like gutting fish? Or do you like eating fish, and feel pride in your skill of putting a nice bass on the table?
Do you like a traditional Thanksgiving turkey, because you get a savage thrill in cleaning out the bird and removing the gizzard and innards? Or do you like a feast that celebrates your family?
Those who eat meat, fish, or poultry are not absolved of any involvement in the animals’ killing. They reap the rewards without doing any of the hard work, either physically or emotionally. I keep my hens as pets and enjoy their eggs. They live out their natural lives at my place. That does not in any way make me superior to those who raise meat birds. I am healthiest on an omnivore diet, and frankly much of the fish I like have toxic levels of mercury due to our poor husbandry of the planet, or they’ve been overfished. So I eat meat. I never took the trouble to acclimate myself to the killing part of it, because I prefer to name everything and shoot them with my camera. But someone does that difficult part for me. They are not a bad person. They are responsibly providing the majority of us with food.
Why do people raise and slaughter their own meat birds, or go hunt game birds? Many of conventionally raised meat birds are sick and were raised in unhealthy or inhumane conditions, and given cheap diets. To illustrate this, one of my friends who raises birds conducted a slaughter class for poultry. Someone brought some factory hens they had saved. They were deemed too sick to ever be introduced, and infect, her own flock, so she had come to learn how to humanely euthanize them. The carcasses were all so diseased, that my friend sternly warned her not to even feed the meat to her dogs. They all had different things wrong with them, ranging from respiratory disease to tumors. She often finds this from high density factory birds. And that is what produces most of the eggs in America. Meat birds are slaughtered at a very young age, too young for most cancers to develop, but they are raised in just as unhealthy conditions.
If you liken all meat eaters to psychopaths, then you have just grossly diminished the meaning of the word until it has no linguistic value at all.
I am not familiar with Oregon criminal procedure, but I ask that the prosecutor demand at least during sentencing that consecutive sentences are levied.
Are there jail sentences for misdemeanors?
yes
https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/161.615
Thank you.
The cities have the same situation. They hunt in packs killing is common. Houston, Chicago etc. come to mind. Most of the time the carcass is intact not always. I’d rather live in the country Although I distinctly recall the city hunters and a system sort of overseen by the local Sheriffs Department. the City Hunters would stay in their motel rooms with booze and poker cards. One of the local kids got the tag and the rifle and came back with the tag, the rifle and the carcass. The stipend went to college funds or the occasional new car. Some families back then hunted for food and didn’t rely on welfare. Now the city hunters find their prey in the cities.
Perhaps having the game hunt the hunters would be justice. There are lot of sick people out there.
A law professor of mine had a bumper sticker that said: “I support the right to arm bears!” I would extend that to deer, squirrels and other animals. It’s time we leveled the playing field. A bit of dark humor when seen in the context of this killing spree bit it seems fair.
I thought hunting was legal.
Hunting is subject to state regulation. It doesn’t allow for the indiscriminate killing of any and all animals by a bunch of ignorant rednecks or psychos.
Have to acquire a tag for each large mammal.
Only if you get a permit in states that allow (encourage) hunting. A squirrel? Hunting is a familial thing. If you’re raised in a hunting family eventually you learn to hunt. Hunters usually take their kill someplace who butchers and freezes them. At least eating the animal isn’t only for the hunt. Several types of meat are very popular. Sometimes the animal population gets out of control and hunters are asked to thin them. The more we encroach into areas with a large animal population the more thinning of some types of animals will,occur.
Killing the squirrel is probably not regulated in OR, although I don’t know for sure about that state. Squirrels belong to the rodent family, and you are allowed to kill rats. Ground squirrels can destabilize hillsides, and many homeowners resort to poison, which is sad because it goes up the food chain to predators. Still a waste if they killed it for no other reason than target practice.
I agree that hunting is often a family affair. No hunting families that I know of would condone or encourage going out and killing all that wildlife, without a license or tag, or a cub, or otherwise slaughtering everything and wasting the meat. The hunters that I know do it for healthy, lean meat to fill their freezer, to bag a turkey, or to get problem boars. It’s a self sufficient way of life, much like fishing, gardening, raising eggs, or raising broiler chickens, rather than getting the hormone laden factory farmed stuff in the store. There is skill involved in field dressing the meat, as well, or else the flavor is spoiled.
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