Why Is Hunting Unethical

According to the 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, hunting participation has increased by nine percent since the nineteen-fifties (6). Killing animals started off as a means of survival and has evolved throughout time to represent different ideologies such as sports hunting, trophy hunting, and varmint hunting. With hunting continuing to expand, multiple challenges have arisen due to the contrasting views over the morals of hunting. Animal-rights activist oppose the prosecution of animals due to the cruelty that they might suffer. Others sustain the belief in that hunting is ethically acceptable in our society. While countless debates have been brought upon the morality of hunting in modern day American

They tend to label hunters as cold and apathetic, due to their enjoyment of persecuting and killing a living creature. Jeremy Bentham, the founding father of utilitarianism, once stated "The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? However, Can they suffer?" (qtd. in Singer). Singer uses Bentham's quote to point out that one of the main reasons animal-rights activist are opposed to hunting is because animals are able to feel pain and suffer just as humans can. Animals are considered equal to humans in the sense that they too have the capacity for suffering. Margaret Van de Pitte, in her article, "Morals Basis for Sports Hunting," further supports this belief by portraying a few things about the rights given to hunters by the government. In her article, Van de Pitte argues that the legitimacy of the practice of hunting is being overlooked by the U.S.'s policy makers. As countless as other moral issues that have been pushed for the recognition of Congress, the issue is usually dodged or fails to obtain the required amount of attention that it deserves. Animals should not be put through the pain that a human being would not wish to place upon another of their

The founding fathers of America based of their decisions on the natural rights theory developed by the philosopher John Locke. Locke argued that these inalienable right include "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (Tuckness). The fact is that the default position of the U.S.'s democracy grants for anyone in our society who has the appropriate qualifications the right to hunt. Individuals who are against the practice of killing animals legally do not possesss the power to disallow this type of activity. The only thing these people are allowed to do is to speak out for their belief and hope that more people will be convinced that their claim is worth fighting for. While regulations protect individuals rights, hunting is a justifiable practice in the eyes of the