Tonight CNC3 aired a new cooking show called “Cooking Wild” (“6 hunters, 6 pots, 1 winner”). I definitely needed to blog about this because it is absolutely appalling.
But if we are truly honest with each other this isn’t only about CNC3 promoting the barbarian slaughter of innocent beings . It goes well beyond that. If a show of this kind is produced, it is because there are enough people interested in watching it…
NATIONAL PRIDE?
In our country, our very own NATIONAL BIRD…let me type that again…our very own NATIONAL BIRD is brutally murdered for profit. Then, its dismembered parts consumed by those who have no heart or national pride. There, I said it. As sad as it is, we do not have national pride.
It is evident in the way we keep our surroundings, streets, neighborhoods, beaches and our natural resources. We touch and destroy, use and abuse and move around with a sense of entitlement that is quite disturbing.
Rare Animal Killed During Hunt
If we truly had national pride, how could we DESTROY AND KILL what REPRESENTS our very own homeland? Is it really surprising then to see a cooking show that will glorify the brutal murder of these VERY PEACEFUL beings? For entertainment purposes? For money?
Someone said the purpose of the show is to educate people about the environment and hunting Really? And they need to kill all these animals in order to “educate”? To educate what exactly? That is it okay to take away the lives of vulnerable beings that have never harmed us in any way, shape or form ?
We seem to think we have the right to destroy their habitat, imprison them, kill them, exploit them, and sell them? How dare humans call themselves the most evolved of all species. Speciesism is alive and kicking.
According to the news, The Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago is appealing to hunters to know the laws governing hunting and to abide by the provisions. They have observed that some hunters are using headlights illegally and reminded them that the use of artificial light is not allowed for the purpose of hunting as it can profoundly affect the behaviour of nocturnal animals.
THERE IS NO “HUMANE” WAY TO MURDER
Basically, let’s kill them but let’s kill them “humanely”. There isn’t such a thing as humane slaughter. It’s an oxymoron. The ZSTT should be the least of all organisations to discuss any sort of issues with regards to animals’ welfare since they manage the Emperor Valley Prison Zoo.
Zoo: Animal Concentration Camp
HUNTING SHOULD BE BANNED
There is not a single reason and justification for hunting; despite all the lies we have been told. Wildlife management is a delusional concept created quite recently to justify the rape of our environment and the thirst for killing. Do we really need this in T&T?
Humans cannot manage nature. PERIOD. But what they CAN do is find another “hobby” that doesn’t involve taking away the life of someone who wants to LIVE just for the purpose of entertainment. Hunting should be banned in this country for GOOD.
In an article back in 2013, more than 140,000 wild animals were hunted and killed in Trinidad and Tobago over a three year period. 140,000!
Hunters justify their practices by stating that they eat their kills like if that makes it acceptable. But do they kill because they are in need of food? No. They kill because they love to kill and the money it brings. Hunters love the sensation (rush) they feel as they are about to murder an innocent animal that does not expect to die. It’s arrogance in its pure form, it’s vicious, it’s evil, and its pure greed. It has to STOP.
WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE
The bucket does not end on with the hunters. No. It ends with every single person in our country that is involved in one way or another. WE can be part of the problem or part of the solution. When someone buys or consumes the flesh of these precious animals, they are supporting this very wicked practice. A practice that needs to END.
If there is any dignity left or love for the country, instead of creating shows that highlight the savage killing of innocent creatures, we should be promoting the preservation of their habitat.
We should be working hard in enabling legislation to bring the full weight of the law to those who endanger them and their environment. Hunters should be included.
The great philosopher Pythagoras was right when he said:
“As long as humanity continues to be the ruthless destroyer of other beings, we will never know health or peace. For as long as people massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed those who sow the seed of murder and pain will never reap joy and love.”
Isn’t this exactly what is happening in T&T?
Thank you for writing/speaking out on this issue. The wild meat cooking show has understandably shocked and horrified many people in TT—and, I’m sure abroad (those who have heard of it). However, I would not be surprised if a large number of TT citizens support and enjoy the show, as “wild meat” is an increasingly trendy delicacy—or, at this rate (God forbid), becoming a fast food? As an vegetarian and animal lover/rescuer myself, I also find it appalling that this nature (no pun intended) of programme can even be considered by sponsors and a television station as worthy of funding and airing (multiple times a week, if what I have read elsewhere is accurate). There are many more television programmes that can be supported and promoted—to educate and inspire the public and to elevate the spirits of the people (much needed) with wholesome content. Our environment (natural AND manmade) is in severe crisis. Yet . . statistics on the tourism sites seem to remain the same every time we see them (# mammals, # species of birds, # species of butterflies) . . . a strange concept since pesticides, unregulated hunting, rampant cutting of trees/clearing of land for construction and other human ‘practices’ must be taking an unimaginable toll on natural habitats.
Detta Buch of WORC (Wildlife Orphanage and Rehabilitation Centre) has been (in my and many other eyes) a national hero for years—giving her life almost singlehandedly to the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals who have been injured (often severely) as a result of human activity or intent. The phenomenal effort and love she puts into what she does has educated and inspired many and has resulted in countless animals being released back to their habitat(s), restored. THIS is what we need more of in TT right now. THIS is what needs to be funded widely. THIS is what needs to be a series on television and to go viral on the internet. THIS says: “Trinidad and Tobago—a caring society where citizens know how to care for each other and for their more vulnerable counterparts—the animals.” Yet . . . the work of WORC has gone largely unfunded by corporate sponsors and Government—and is funded mainly from pocket for the years of its existence.
To the producers and sponsors of the wild meat cooking show—you are undoubtedly proud of a programme is of absolutely no service to the nation.
The following (from the PETA site) speaks volumes of where Trinidad & Tobago needs to be:
‘ Called the Mahatma (“Great Soul”), Gandhi taught that nonviolence begins with what we eat. “To my mind,” he said, “I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.”
In his total commitment to nonviolence, Gandhi always included the animals, stating, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ‘
Thanks for your feedback Elspeth!
what a well written article, everything we should feel as a nation is there, we should take pride and try and protect our animals before the hunters make them extinct.
THERE IS NO “HUMANE” WAY TO MURDER and that is what the hunters are doing.
Hunting should be banned in this country for GOOD.
WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE
we should be promoting the preservation of the habitat of the animals not killing them.
Do the hunters kill because they are in need of food? No. They kill because they love to kill and the money it brings. It should stop NOW
Thanks for the message Mary!