You’re scaring me internet.
I can not believe I am about to write this, but our collective condemnation of the man who killed #CecilTheLion is going off the rails. Before you grab your pitchfork, let me preface this whole thing with these three things I believe to be true:
1) Cecil and all lions are magnificent creatures that deserve our protection. Furthermore, no animal should be hunted for sport or to the point of extinction.
2) Dr. Palmer is a twisted and sad man to derive pleasure from killing any animal.
3) What happened was a crime and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Initially, I could do nothing but nod in complete agreement with the comments under the #CeciltheLion hashtag. People are angry and rightfully so. We should be pissed that a person could be so heartless. We should be supporting wildlife conservation groups the world over. We should be heartbroken that hunting for sport is still a thing in 2015.
Imagine people this up in arms 30, even 20 years ago over a lion's death. It wouldn’t have happened and so I think it speaks to our collective mindset to see so much anger over Cecil’s death. Despite the tragedy of the whole situation, it shows that those who like to hunt are clearly a minority now.
No matter how many times I see the picture of Dr. Palmer smiling over the dead lion it throws me into a rage. It turns my stomach and makes me want to hurl.
You know what else makes me want to hurl?
This:
"I will sell tickets for $50,000 to anyone who wants to come with me and track down fat, greedy, selfish, murderous businessmen like Dr. Palmer in their natural habit. We would all take a bow and fire a few arrows into his limbs to render him incapable of movement.
"Then we'd calmly walk over, skin him alive, cut his head from his neck, and took a bunch of photos of us all grinning inanely at his quivering flesh."
That’s some scary shit there and these words aren’t coming from a serial killer posting anonymously on Reddit but from Piers Morgan.
You don’t have to point it out to me in the comments; I get what Piers is trying to do here. The "how would he like it argument" is something most kindergartners can come up with. Words matter though, and unfortunately there are people out there who would see this not as hyperbole but a call to action.
Piers is not alone. PETA is calling for the dentist to be hanged, and countless others are threatening his life in comment threads all over the globe. It should not make us smile that this man in now the hunted. It should scare us, because as we all know, the internet is a fickle mistress. Today it’s him, tomorrow it might be you.
This man has a family who love him whether you like it or not. You want to hit him where it hurts? Get him economically, shame him publicly, and continue to fight the good fight for animal rights everywhere. But calling for someone’s murder is just as irresponsible as the killing of Cecil the Lion.
We can do better.
RIP #CecilTheLion I'm struggling to imagine anything more beautiful than this pic.twitter.com/lile3Kb2dk
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) July 28, 2015
Click here to sign a petition on Change.org to help protect animlas from illegal hunting and enact change to enforce punishments for those who break these laws.
From Change.org:
Cecil was a 13 year old lion killed by an American trophy hunter with the help of some locals in Zimbabwe. The key American suspect, Walter James Palmer, reportedly has a history of illegal hunting activity. Please sign my petition asking for full accountability and punishment for all those involved in Cecil’s death.
I've been to Africa to volunteer with these amazing, social and family oriented animals and it worries me that they might disappear in my lifetime. We've lost more than 80-90% of the world's lion population in recent decades due to massive habitat loss, disease, trophy hunters and the exotic animal trade. Most lions killed as trophies end up in the United States.
You can read more and sign the petition here.
Image Source: Twitter
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