PETITION CLOSED
PETITION TARGET: UK Prime Minister and Ministers George Eustice and Lord Zac Goldsmith
UPDATE (10/23/2023): We sent our petition, signed by more than 39,000 people, to Minister Eustice and Lord Zac Goldsmith. We’ve since learned the UK has banned trophy hunting imports. Thank you to everyone who spoke up for these animals! We’ll keep advocating for animals.
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Lions reared in cages are being shot to death by trophy hunters who shell out big bucks to hide in nearby blinds and then massacre the unsuspecting animals, according to The Mirror.
The chance to gun down rhinos, crocodiles, and elephants also was advertised at the United Kingdom’s first-ever “stalking show,” which over the course of two days attracted 90 exhibitors.
An undercover investigator working for the Humane Society International-UK who attended the event reported that company representatives said that paying customers could kill any species they wanted, and also that they could kill an unlimited number of animals.
“The only limit is how much money you’ve got,” one reportedly told the investigator.
Another representative offered the chance to shoot at “caged lions,” according to The Mirror.
“You tell them you want to hunt a lion, and a few weeks before you go, they are gonna throw them out… into a big pen,” the representative reportedly said. “Then when you turn up, you’ll sit in a blind.”
While one wildlife killing company told news media the cowardly hunts aid conservation efforts, numerous reports have shown that trophy killing doesn’t protect animals – nor does it help local people as killing companies frequently claim.
The United Kingdom has made headlines recently for touting a strong stance against trophy hunting. But the language of a bill to ban the import of animal “trophies,” pitched by a private Member of Parliament (MP), has yet to be released for serious consideration, while events like the stalking show continue to advertise these grotesque vacations.
Killing innocent and precious wildlife in order to hang their corpses or dismembered body parts on a wall is not conservation – and it’s not a “sport.”
It’s a cruel, cowardly, and reprehensible blood bath of innocent animals, and the United Kingdom must take immediate and decisive steps to end the brutal demand within its boundaries.
Sign our petition urging the UK’s Prime Minister and Ministers George Eustice MP and Lord Zac Goldsmith to strongly support and advocate for a ban on importing animal “trophies” and trophy hunted animal parts into the United Kingdom, and so help end gruesome suffering while saving countless lives.
