Why is animal population control such a controversy?
Animal rights groups such as PETA( People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have given many strong reasons as to why hunting should not be used in order to control animal populations. Hunting animals is cruel and unnecessary. Animals are only doing what is natural. Throughout history, humans have been invading on animals’ habitats. Why do some people believe that they have the right to kill animals because the humans want more of the animals’ space? Not only is hunting unethical, it can do more damage than intended." After hunters kill the largest members of a population, the offspring of weak adults have difficulty finding food and gaining the strength needed to survive extreme weather; therefore, hunting can actually cause starvation rather than prevent it.( Sara Wirth from PETA- interview)" Not only is hunting animals unethical, it can affect the rest of the environment. If humans hunt too much of a certain species, the species that rely on the hunted species for food will go hungry, and this will continue in a long chain until the whole food chain is starved. Hunting these animals is not right, and is not fair to animals. Humans should resort to other options of controlling animal populations. " Hunting opponents say that if humans must intervene to curb animal overpopulation,” they should use“ birth control or relocation. Such approaches are both efficient and morally sound, critics assert. For example, they say, animals causing problems for humans in urban and suburban areas can easily be " trapped and moved " to less populated areas. Or, alternatively, animals that are reproducing too rapidly could be sterilized in order to slow population growth.( Animal Population Control)" We can remove problem causing animals, without putting any of them in danger. If these easy solutions are available, why do some people feel the need to kill?