PETA Unleashes Misguided Media Assault on D.Trump Sons African Hunt

© By Othmar Vohringer

Once again PeTA and other notorious animal rights groups use the celebrity status of hunters to launch their usual misguided media frenzies against hunters and hunting.

The following news has been supplied to me by US Sportsmen.org

Donald Jr.  and Eric Trump

Have you noted the growing trend in America? Citizens who go legally hunting and find success are finding themselves in the crosshairs of the animal rights lobby including groups such as PETA, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), or other “public opinion police” groups. You have to ask yourself “when did someone put PETA or HSUS in charge of what you do on vacation?” Read on.

When TV personality Donald Trump’s sons, Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump, went hunting in Africa, they found success. Included among their memory makers were photos of them with a killed elephant and crocodile. They also reportedly killed a kudu and a waterbuck. It’s important to note that none of these species are endangered, and when taken by hunters the local residents obtain an instant source of food and a major economic boost. Hunting actually ensures that villagers value animals such as elephants which often do terrible damage to crops. Donald Trump, Jr. stated that the animals provided needed food in many Africa villages.

When videos of the successful hunters appeared on YouTube, it seems that PETA and other groups made many attempts to discredit the hunters—and hunting. Even more bizarre is that one article that reported on the Trump brothers’ hunt switched gears and began reporting on rhino poaching and international black market trafficking of rhino horns. The Trumps did not hunt rhinos. This was a blatant attempt to confuse the public and reflects very poor journalism standards.
Again, this begs the question, of what concern is it to PETA what you do on your own vacation? These were just private citizens on vacation, legally hunting.
A similar firestorm erupted last year when Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons also went hunting in Africa and legally killed an elephant.

Donald Trump Jr. with a African buffalo he took.

And more recently when California Fish and Game Commission president Daniel Richards legally and successfully went mountain lion hunting in Idaho, HSUS tried numerous sensationalized efforts to have him removed from his position. The HSUS move and demands were highly suspect after numerous reports surfaced that HSUS had in fact given money to California’s Fish and Game Department in an effort to develop close ties there. Appearing at a public hearing to speak in favor of removing Richards were HSUS, Audubon, Sierra Club, and other groups.

With the facts out, it continues to be clear that donations to HSUS, PETA and other animal rights groups are used less and less to help dogs and cats and more and more to push the groups radical animal rights agendas. Worse, these campaigns reveal a bigger agenda by the animal rights lobby to co-opt the mainstream media into reporting these stories of legal hunting trips in a fashion that suggests to the American people that those involved have done something wrong or illegal. Instead the media should be reporting on the incredible positive impact that hunting has on conservation, the economy, and bringing families together. That’s a story sportsmen need to tell more often too.