WTF?

Seriously! Who shoots a puppy?!

Like most Canadians that have heard about this story I was outraged when I read about how two hunters shot and killed a little boy's puppy. It turns out that the puppy had recently been bought to replace another one that had comforted the little boy throughout his ordeal with brain cancer.

Like anyone who knows what it's like to lose a loved pet, my heart goes out to that poor little boy.

From the story, it would appear that one of the hunters has turned himself in to police and is claiming that shooting the puppy was an accident. In fairness, I wasn't there, and I'm in no position to say whether it was an accident or not, but even if this individual is given the benefit of the doubt (to which he is entitled!) there are two crucial points that still make my blood boil:

1. I have been a hunter since I was 15 years old, a fact that I am damn proud of. We hunters are taught from the very beginning to always be certain of our game before we fire a shot, we are also taught various other important safety techniques, such as how to maintain proper control of a firearm in case of accidental discharge, making sure that the there is no one standing behind the game we are shooting at, etc. (in short a lot of common sense). I can see how it would be easy to mistake a small, white dog for a rabbit or other small game if you only saw it out of the corner of your eye, but that is why you are supposed to wait until you have clearly identified the animal rather than just blasting away at the first sign of movement! What if it had been the boy that had come running?!
2. In short, these guys did something really stupid. These things happen, even to smart people because nobody is perfect. I understand that, but after these two idiots realized their mistake, rather than owning up to it, they ran away. I have no respect for that.

Unless I'm missing some really important facts, I feel pretty safe in saying that it's people like this that give all hunters a bad name! I want everyone out there to know that the overwhelmeing majority of hunters are not like this! We are good, responsible people and we share your outrage.

The issues of guilt and sentencing are quite properly left up to the courts in this case, but most importantly, I hope that the two people who are responsible for the animal's death realize that what they have done is wrong and that they have a responsibility to pay for the damage they have caused (though sadly, experience tells me that is not terribly likely).