"Killing
contests" are heartbreaking, disturbing tournaments in
which hunters compete to see who is "best" at spilling
the most amount of blood and butchering the most animals
possible. The Eastern U.S. Predator Calling Championship
in Virginia is one such grisly event. According to
several undercover investigations by the Humane Society
of the United States, some competitors even wield AR-15
guns as they hunt their innocent, defenseless prey.
One
investigator said it left critters' "brains blown out or
their guts hanging out."
The Championship
contest awards teams prizes for killing the smallest,
heaviest, or most number of animals in any given species
category. Those prizes include straight-up trophies,
belt buckles, and even $25,600 for "winners." In 2022's
contest, 127 teams competed, butchering a total of
around 590 coyotes and dozens of foxes. The
littlest fox slaughtered during the tournament was a
slight 6.8 pounds, which is the size of a very small
house cat or little dog. This
sadistic violence serves no real purpose, other than
bringing sadistic glee in overpowering a smaller animal
and causing its sad, violent death.
Virginia legislators were considering banning these
mass-killing "games," but chose not to. They must
reconsider that move. Sign the
petition to demand Virginia state lawmakers pass a bill
to prohibit stomach-churning "killing
contests!"
