Humane Group Slams Cheney For Westmoreland Hunt
POSTED: 11:52 am EST December 8,
2003
UPDATED: 6:37 pm EST December 9,
2003
LIGONIER TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Vice President Dick Cheney is being criticized for shooting duck and pheasant Monday at the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, Westmoreland County, Team 4's Jim Parsons reported.
Mark Bolish, an employee of the exclusive private club, told Channel 4 Action News that Cheney shot about 70 stocked pheasants and mallards that were released for a group of hunters. More than 400 of the farm-raised birds were killed in all.
The Humane Society of the United States on Tuesday called it a "deplorable" form of hunting, because the pen-reared birds are not in their natural habitat. The HSUS also questioned the ethics of what it calls "canned hunts.""This wasn't a hunting ground. It was an open-air abattoir, and the vice president should be ashamed to have patronized this operation and then slaughtered so many animals," said HSUS senior vice president Wayne Pacelle in a written statement.
Click here to read the complete HSUS statement.Club employee Scott Wakefield described the hunt for Action News."We release pheasants off a hill, and they shoot them," Wakefield said. "They all stay in their blinds up ahead of us. The other guys like me, we have our dogs and we run them. We stand below (the hunters), and every bird they shoot, our dogs retrieve them."Cheney's visit was personal, not public. There has been no comment from his press office in Washington, D.C.
What do you think about this issue? Here is what Action News viewers are saying so far:I don't think anybody would be up in arms if Cheney went trout fishing in Pa., where the Fish and Game Commission raise trout and release them in specified and announced streams so they can swim down the waterways with no way to escape, only to be hooked in the lip or eye and pulled from the water and left to die so they can end up stuffed as a trophy or grilled with lemon grass. Nice to see that Cheney can still shoot straight, and isn't afraid to do so.- munzfarm
It was an exclusive private club. What goes on there should remain private. Those employees had no business talking about it to reporters. As far as the Humane Society, I believe every one of their members should get a life. Children can be left alone, dumped in garbage cans, abused, starved, traded, and not much is said or done. But as soon as something happens to an animal, people are up in arms. If they really want to help the world, they should do something to help fellow human beings.- Dorothy Z.
The claim that these birds have no escape is not entirely true. About a dozen escape just to be run over on Rt. 711 this time each year. Big deal, get over it. I think there are more pressing issues out there.- Phil
This is very unfair for the birds. A hunter should not have to hunt "caged" animals who don't know or aren't able to escape.- Melissa R.
I have no problem with hunting Ringneck Pheasant at a private club, state land or shooting grounds, but 70 Birds 1 Hunter is a bit much.Tony S., Greensburg
What does this man think he is doing? Hunting is a sport, not a slaughter of game that are released into a controlled area so that the person who thinks he is a hunter gets his jollies. If Mister Cheney were a true sportsman, he should walk the areas of land of Pa. that are legal to hunt in, not a private club.- John W.
The news that Cheney killed 70+ trapped pheasants does not surprise me but it thoroughly disgusts me.- Lois T.
I wonder if Cheney was a liberal Democrat if there would be as much uproar by the Humane Society and so many other southwestern Pa. residents. All these folks need to quit letting their ideology guide their opinions on such non-issues.- Ron F.
Shooting farm raised birds set free in a pin is not much different from shooting a dog tied on a rope!! I hope they did not waste the kill. Maybe pheasant and duck are on the menu at the club tonight!- Suzi A.
Poor recreational choice, and even poorer management of news about it. Not much of a sport. Dorothy Z. might consider how you can be opposed to child abuse and other worthy issues, AND be opposed to the abuse of animals. To criticize what happened is neither unpatriotic, nor necessarily politically motivated. Sensationalized viewpoints, especially when espoused by the media, reveal a shameful lack of perspective and critical thinking.- Dennis H.
It doesn't matter one bit that it was the VP hunting. This was not a hunt. It was deplorable ... As far as people caring more about animals than children, if people have such little regard for animals, what makes anyone think they will have a higher regard for children?- Marilyn C.
I don't hunt, but have no problem with hunters as long as they use the game for food. But shooting birds that are released right in front of them just for the sake of killing the animals seems more than a little inhumane.- Lynn
Looks like Dick Cheney holds as little regard for animals as he does human life. Pure carnage!- Linda R.
I think that it is really stupid that people worry so much about what people like the vice president does, who cares, surely I could care less. Stop wasting the media's time so they can talk about important things. Here is a question for the humane group; are you all vegetarians?- Heather
The birds can fly away when released. I know from personal experience. Hunt Clubs are nothing new; perhaps this is just more GOP bashing at its finest ... The state Game Commission raises birds and purposely releases them prior to hunting season. The difference is in the timing but the outcome is the same. Do you suppose any vice-president can simple through florescent orange on and head to the local state game lands during hunting season? I truly doubt it.- Bob, Latrobe
I think the vice president does a lot of things that are deplorable. This is just one of them.- tierneyd
Would it be a matter of concern to anyone if the Republican Vice President was not involved in this hunting event? I think not! This is just another opportunity to bash the Bush administration and I think these attacks are shameful.- Nancy C.
What Vice President Cheney did this week, I do not consider hunting. Talk about ducks in a shooting gallery! If he wants to "hunt," let him get a dog and take a walk through Pennsylvania's many fine hunting habitats.- David S., Scottdale
Folks should know better than to think that a standing Vice President could just walk the areas of land that are legal to hunt on, or "walk through Pennsylvania's many fine hunting habitats." With all the Secret Service agents, communication devices, support vehicles, etc., that are involved in protecting this man, folks would be accusing him of personally and single-handedly ruining the wildlands. I live in California, but Pennsylvania is "home" to me, and frankly, I'd be pretty excited that, of all the places he could have gone, he chose to visit the fine Laurel Highlands. Pick your fights, and understand the ramifications of what you deem to be proper.- Sue L.
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Click here to read the complete HSUS statement.Club employee Scott Wakefield described the hunt for Action News."We release pheasants off a hill, and they shoot them," Wakefield said. "They all stay in their blinds up ahead of us. The other guys like me, we have our dogs and we run them. We stand below (the hunters), and every bird they shoot, our dogs retrieve them."Cheney's visit was personal, not public. There has been no comment from his press office in Washington, D.C.What do you think about this issue? Here is what Action News viewers are saying so far:I don't think anybody would be up in arms if Cheney went trout fishing in Pa., where the Fish and Game Commission raise trout and release them in specified and announced streams so they can swim down the waterways with no way to escape, only to be hooked in the lip or eye and pulled from the water and left to die so they can end up stuffed as a trophy or grilled with lemon grass. Nice to see that Cheney can still shoot straight, and isn't afraid to do so.- munzfarmIt was an exclusive private club. What goes on there should remain private. Those employees had no business talking about it to reporters. As far as the Humane Society, I believe every one of their members should get a life. Children can be left alone, dumped in garbage cans, abused, starved, traded, and not much is said or done. But as soon as something happens to an animal, people are up in arms. If they really want to help the world, they should do something to help fellow human beings.- Dorothy Z.
The claim that these birds have no escape is not entirely true. About a dozen escape just to be run over on Rt. 711 this time each year. Big deal, get over it. I think there are more pressing issues out there.- Phil
This is very unfair for the birds. A hunter should not have to hunt "caged" animals who don't know or aren't able to escape.- Melissa R.
I have no problem with hunting Ringneck Pheasant at a private club, state land or shooting grounds, but 70 Birds 1 Hunter is a bit much.Tony S., Greensburg
What does this man think he is doing? Hunting is a sport, not a slaughter of game that are released into a controlled area so that the person who thinks he is a hunter gets his jollies. If Mister Cheney were a true sportsman, he should walk the areas of land of Pa. that are legal to hunt in, not a private club.- John W.
The news that Cheney killed 70+ trapped pheasants does not surprise me but it thoroughly disgusts me.- Lois T.
I wonder if Cheney was a liberal Democrat if there would be as much uproar by the Humane Society and so many other southwestern Pa. residents. All these folks need to quit letting their ideology guide their opinions on such non-issues.- Ron F.
Shooting farm raised birds set free in a pin is not much different from shooting a dog tied on a rope!! I hope they did not waste the kill. Maybe pheasant and duck are on the menu at the club tonight!- Suzi A.
Poor recreational choice, and even poorer management of news about it. Not much of a sport. Dorothy Z. might consider how you can be opposed to child abuse and other worthy issues, AND be opposed to the abuse of animals. To criticize what happened is neither unpatriotic, nor necessarily politically motivated. Sensationalized viewpoints, especially when espoused by the media, reveal a shameful lack of perspective and critical thinking.- Dennis H.
It doesn't matter one bit that it was the VP hunting. This was not a hunt. It was deplorable ... As far as people caring more about animals than children, if people have such little regard for animals, what makes anyone think they will have a higher regard for children?- Marilyn C.
I don't hunt, but have no problem with hunters as long as they use the game for food. But shooting birds that are released right in front of them just for the sake of killing the animals seems more than a little inhumane.- Lynn
Looks like Dick Cheney holds as little regard for animals as he does human life. Pure carnage!- Linda R.
I think that it is really stupid that people worry so much about what people like the vice president does, who cares, surely I could care less. Stop wasting the media's time so they can talk about important things. Here is a question for the humane group; are you all vegetarians?- Heather
The birds can fly away when released. I know from personal experience. Hunt Clubs are nothing new; perhaps this is just more GOP bashing at its finest ... The state Game Commission raises birds and purposely releases them prior to hunting season. The difference is in the timing but the outcome is the same. Do you suppose any vice-president can simple through florescent orange on and head to the local state game lands during hunting season? I truly doubt it.- Bob, Latrobe
I think the vice president does a lot of things that are deplorable. This is just one of them.- tierneyd
Would it be a matter of concern to anyone if the Republican Vice President was not involved in this hunting event? I think not! This is just another opportunity to bash the Bush administration and I think these attacks are shameful.- Nancy C.
What Vice President Cheney did this week, I do not consider hunting. Talk about ducks in a shooting gallery! If he wants to "hunt," let him get a dog and take a walk through Pennsylvania's many fine hunting habitats.- David S., Scottdale
Folks should know better than to think that a standing Vice President could just walk the areas of land that are legal to hunt on, or "walk through Pennsylvania's many fine hunting habitats." With all the Secret Service agents, communication devices, support vehicles, etc., that are involved in protecting this man, folks would be accusing him of personally and single-handedly ruining the wildlands. I live in California, but Pennsylvania is "home" to me, and frankly, I'd be pretty excited that, of all the places he could have gone, he chose to visit the fine Laurel Highlands. Pick your fights, and understand the ramifications of what you deem to be proper.- Sue L.
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