Two Pennsylvania legislators, state Reps. Frank Farina and Robert Godshall, recently announced that they would be introducing new legislation that would seek to allow the Pennsylvania Game Commission to authorize hunting in Pennsylvania on eight to 12 Sundays annually, overturning a long-standing ban.
We’ve written a letter urging the legislators to drop their proposed bill and give wildlife at least one day of rest a week. As explained in our letter, Monday through Saturday, animals are forced to run for their lives while hunters stalk and kill them. This violent “entertainment” rips animal families apart and leaves countless animals orphaned or badly injured when hunters miss their targets. Inescapable, earsplitting noises from the gunfire and other commotion that hunters create disturbs an otherwise peaceful community and, coupled with the terror of being stalked, causes hunted animals tremendous stress. And hunting is dangerous for people, too. According to the International Hunter Education Association, there are dozens of human deaths and hundreds of injuries attributed to hunting in the U.S. every year.
With six other days a week to hunt, Sunday remains the one day that many Pennsylvania animals are able to live their lives in peace. On a day that God set aside for rest after His work of creation, we hope legislators will affirm the beauty of His work by maintaining this modest ban on stalking and killing animals and encourage their constituents to celebrate the natural world through hiking, photography, rafting, and other pursuits that don’t come at the expense of someone’s life.
Get more information on why hunting is cruel and unnecessary.
