Post by Woody Williams on Jan 5, 2006 16:14:21 GMT -5
Mitt under fire for hunt
Romney catches flak after quail kill
By Dave Wedge
Thursday, January 5, 2006 - Updated: 02:06 AM EST
White House hopeful Gov. Mitt Romney’s Georgia GOP hunting party bagged plenty of quail, but the political outing backfired when it was revealed the birds had been fenced in, creating a flap with animal rights activists.
The governor and 15 others piled into four buggies at The Lodge at Cabin Bluff in Georgia and killed several quail Tuesday, according to preserve manager Patty Daniels.
“They did kill quite a few quail. But I don’t know how many he personally killed,” Daniels said of Romney.
A spokesman confirmed Romney took part in the “Sportsmen’s Challenge” at the Republican Governors Association conference in Georgia but ducked questions about whether the governor personally shot any animals.
Cabin Bluff is a 45,000-acre hunting preserve about an hour south of the swank Sea Island, Ga., resort where Romney met with the RGA this week. The excursion was hosted by Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue, an avid hunter and the vice chairman of the RGA.
Daniels said the preserve is contained by a fence and stocked with quail, duck, deer and boar for hunters to kill.
Animal rights groups slam such “canned” hunting sites as cruel, arguing that birds and other game living in captivity are released only to be stalked by thrill-seeking, wealthy sportsmen.
“Many of these private hunting preserves are basically providing drive-through killing opportunities,” said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the Humane Society of the United States. “These animals are often tamed and bred on the property, fed by people and accustomed to people. They have no chance of escape. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”
Jennifer McClure, spokeswoman for the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, blasted Romney, saying: “Stalking and shooting animals is a cowardly, violent form of recreation, and if Romney wants to keep his political career alive, then he should stop supporting this dying blood sport.
Romney, who is not seeking re-election and is reportedly considering a 2008 presidential run, is not the first Bay State politician to come under fire for hunting. In the 1990s, former Gov. Bill Weld was criticized for killing a boar he claimed was wild but was actually contained in a fenced-in preserve in New Hampshire.
In 2002, Sen. John F. Kerry revealed that he is an avid quail and dove hunter but claimed he kills only what he intends to eat.
Markarian accused Romney of posing as a sportsman to curry political favor from conservatives.
“In general, we certainly think it’s a shame that lawmakers feel the need to put on these displays to pander to the gun lobby,” he said. “We would hope that the governor of a state where only 2 percent of the people hunt would enjoy more humane pastimes.”
Have gun, will unravel: When big shots attack Gov. Mitt Romney is the latest high-profile hunter to come under fire. Among the others are:
· Former Gov. Bill Weld, now seeking to become New York governor, took heat in 1992 after boasting of killing a wild boar; it turned out Big Red had hunted the boar on a fenced-in wildlife preserve in New Hampshire.
· President Bush accidentally killed an endangered bird, breaking wildlife laws. The president shrugged off the controversy, saying: “I’m glad I wasn’t deer hunting. I might have shot a cow.”
· In 2004, Superior Court Justice Antonin Scalia raised ethics questions when he refused to remove himself from a case involving his duck-hunting partner, Vice President Dick Cheney.
· Sen. John Kerry revealed in 2002 that he is an avid hunter of doves and quail but only to eat them. “There is something very fundamental about going out and hunting your meals. And I insist: If I hunt it, I eat it. I will not go out and kill something just to kill it,” Kerry said in 2002.
· Former Red Sox slugger Wade Boggs, a member of an elite safari club, has come under fire for killing exotic animals such as lions, zebras and hippos, including some on “threatened species” lists.
Romney catches flak after quail kill
By Dave Wedge
Thursday, January 5, 2006 - Updated: 02:06 AM EST
White House hopeful Gov. Mitt Romney’s Georgia GOP hunting party bagged plenty of quail, but the political outing backfired when it was revealed the birds had been fenced in, creating a flap with animal rights activists.
The governor and 15 others piled into four buggies at The Lodge at Cabin Bluff in Georgia and killed several quail Tuesday, according to preserve manager Patty Daniels.
“They did kill quite a few quail. But I don’t know how many he personally killed,” Daniels said of Romney.
A spokesman confirmed Romney took part in the “Sportsmen’s Challenge” at the Republican Governors Association conference in Georgia but ducked questions about whether the governor personally shot any animals.
Cabin Bluff is a 45,000-acre hunting preserve about an hour south of the swank Sea Island, Ga., resort where Romney met with the RGA this week. The excursion was hosted by Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue, an avid hunter and the vice chairman of the RGA.
Daniels said the preserve is contained by a fence and stocked with quail, duck, deer and boar for hunters to kill.
Animal rights groups slam such “canned” hunting sites as cruel, arguing that birds and other game living in captivity are released only to be stalked by thrill-seeking, wealthy sportsmen.
“Many of these private hunting preserves are basically providing drive-through killing opportunities,” said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the Humane Society of the United States. “These animals are often tamed and bred on the property, fed by people and accustomed to people. They have no chance of escape. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”
Jennifer McClure, spokeswoman for the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, blasted Romney, saying: “Stalking and shooting animals is a cowardly, violent form of recreation, and if Romney wants to keep his political career alive, then he should stop supporting this dying blood sport.
Romney, who is not seeking re-election and is reportedly considering a 2008 presidential run, is not the first Bay State politician to come under fire for hunting. In the 1990s, former Gov. Bill Weld was criticized for killing a boar he claimed was wild but was actually contained in a fenced-in preserve in New Hampshire.
In 2002, Sen. John F. Kerry revealed that he is an avid quail and dove hunter but claimed he kills only what he intends to eat.
Markarian accused Romney of posing as a sportsman to curry political favor from conservatives.
“In general, we certainly think it’s a shame that lawmakers feel the need to put on these displays to pander to the gun lobby,” he said. “We would hope that the governor of a state where only 2 percent of the people hunt would enjoy more humane pastimes.”
Have gun, will unravel: When big shots attack Gov. Mitt Romney is the latest high-profile hunter to come under fire. Among the others are:
· Former Gov. Bill Weld, now seeking to become New York governor, took heat in 1992 after boasting of killing a wild boar; it turned out Big Red had hunted the boar on a fenced-in wildlife preserve in New Hampshire.
· President Bush accidentally killed an endangered bird, breaking wildlife laws. The president shrugged off the controversy, saying: “I’m glad I wasn’t deer hunting. I might have shot a cow.”
· In 2004, Superior Court Justice Antonin Scalia raised ethics questions when he refused to remove himself from a case involving his duck-hunting partner, Vice President Dick Cheney.
· Sen. John Kerry revealed in 2002 that he is an avid hunter of doves and quail but only to eat them. “There is something very fundamental about going out and hunting your meals. And I insist: If I hunt it, I eat it. I will not go out and kill something just to kill it,” Kerry said in 2002.
· Former Red Sox slugger Wade Boggs, a member of an elite safari club, has come under fire for killing exotic animals such as lions, zebras and hippos, including some on “threatened species” lists.
