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Death threats have been sent to the American dentist who killed Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe earlier this month amid growing anger over the protected animal’s slaughter.
Tributes to the butchered lion have poured in thousands of miles away at Dr Walter Palmer’s office in Bloomington, Minnesota, where protesters dressed as ‘dentist hunters’ also threw stuffed lions at his house.
Celebrities including models Cara Delevingne and Candice Swanepoel have also blasted the dentist, calling him a ‘poor excuse of a human being’.
Palmer claims he had trusted his local guides to meet legal guidelines on his trip to Africa, during which he shot Cecil with a crossbow on July 1 before skinning and beheading him.
The hunter’s office and practice website have become a target for animal rights activists disgusted by the dentist’s actions, which have resulted in Zimbabwe authorities demanding to speak with him.
One of the strongest denunciations came from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which said on its Twitter account that Palmer should hang for killing Cecil.
‘If, as reported, this dentist & guides lured #CeciltheLion out of the park with food so as to shoot him on private property because shooting #CeciltheLion in the park would have been illegal, he needs to be extradited, charged, &, preferably, hanged.’
Killing animals for sport IS outrageous and should be made illegal. No animal should be killed for no useful purpose. Killing animals for food or skin for clothing is perfectly correct.
This guy killed for nothing but sport. The outrage is well placed.
OTOH, the animal rights wackos and psychopaths at PETA called for this guy to be hanged. (On their twitter feed.) Even though what he did was wrong and should be punishable (IF illegal as it should be), it isn’t and shouldn’t be a capital offense. And it demonstrates that the animal crazies value animal life over human life, and are thus far crazier than these hunters.
The lion should have run away.
Yes, but not the death threats. There’s a reason it’s assur to hunt.
He goes to a foreign country as a tourist. Breaks the laws. Destroys a local tourist attraction (a tame lion that was used to attract tourists in a country in which tourism is a big industry). Claims it was a “sport” to kill what was basically a pet (as sporting as if he bought a domesticated cow in order to shoot it with his bow and arrow). And apparently he already has a conviction in the United States for doing the same thing.
I agree with Joseph in general on this, and akuperma is absolutely right in this case. But hanging (which is outlawed almost everywhere as cruel and unusual) or the death penalty in general is way too far.
The fact that there is on outrage over this lion and not over any other hunting ‘victim,’ is due to having associated personality and near human dignity to it. That is a serious example of how the priorities in this world are so out of order.
Not saying that hunting is proper. I agree with those before who said that it is not. But this is not about hunting, or it would’ve been all over the news any one of the hundreds or thousands of other times it has happened. This is about elevating an animal to quasi human status.
As an aside, research shows that this lion earned its position in a fight between he and his brother against a lion who had the position before. His brother (Leander) was killed by that other lion (Mpofu). Mpofu had his leg broken in that fight, and was put down. Not such a sweet little Babmi, our friend Cecil. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Or as Rabban Gamliel put it, “Al d’atfeich atfuch, etc.”
midwesterner: I mean, I’ll disagree with that slightly. I think when an animal is beloved, it matters more. It is far more cruel (and there are more Issurim) to shoot a beloved pet than to shoot a random wild animal.
Sam, sure, there are nizkei mamon involved, but isn’t the very fact that a particular animal is so beloved indicative of confused priorities?
Lions are allowed to fight other lions and kill them. It’s not against lions’ laws. But that doesn’t make it any less wrong for a human to kill a lion, especially without a fight. (Shooting another lion is against lions’ laws. Lions never shoot at other lions.)
This animal was hefker. What possible issurim could there be if it is beloved? Maybe d’alach sanei, l’chavrach lo saaved?
Lions never shoot at other lions because they are too stupid to figure out how. Because they don’t have sechel. Because they are not tzelem Elokim. They are not not-shooting because of some sense of fair play. If they could figure out how, you bet they would.
Did he know it was Cecil?
Lions aren’t stupid. They just don’t have opposable thumbs or human skill. Because they aren’t humans. They were never meant to be humans. And they know they aren’t supposed to be human, so they follow lion rules. Even if lions could use guns, a lion wouldn’t be in charge unless there was a fight.
Had he gone back in time and killed Cecil before Cecil became famous he could have avoided the free stuffed toy barrage.
DY: No. People are allowed to have hobbies. They’re allowed to have icons. And they’re allowed to have pets. There is nothing wrong with being passionate about a hobby. There’s nothing wrong with loving a pet. Loving a pet more than a person? That’s a screwed-up priority. Loving a pet in general? Nothing at all wrong with that. This lion was all three to a lot of people. It had meaning on both a national and personal level. It’s a big deal and not indicative of social problems. It was an icon.
I like my neighbor’s dog more than I like any of the people I haven’t heard of.
midwesterner: I don’t think that’s the issue- I think it’s more that the fact that the lion was high-profile made the issue of the illegal hunting high-profile as well.
Did you hear the other story?
A man traveled to Zimbabwe for an exotic vacation. The night before he left, he got into a fight with a local and killed him. He then hid the body and flew home to Minnesota before the crime was discovered.
This never happened, but if it would have, how many people do you think would be standing outside this man’s home right now shouting death threats?
Something to ponder…
He should be forced to reimburse the people of Zimbabwe for the lost tourism revenue.
I have known many deer hunters in the US. After they bag a deer they eat venison for a month and if they have too much meet they donate it to a homeless shelter. While Jews should not participate in deer hunting, it is not a wasteful sport. This kind of trophy hunting has no rationale and it should be banned worldwide.
It should also be mentioned that lions are an endangered species. Are we to second guess HaShem and claim that lions shouldn’t exist?
Why isn’t there demonstrations every time there is an abortion?!?
Meanwhile, the same people crying over this animal, insist that any woman should be allowed to kill her baby. And sell its organs and limbs.
It doesn’t take a supreme court decision to show that the values of the nations, and in particular the left wing, are the polar opposite of true values.
While it was probably wrong to hunt just for sport, he actually did receive a permit from the relevant authorities, so no one has any real basis to object, aside from some absurd emotional attachment — real or imagined — to a lion (!). At the same time, unspeakable atrocities are being committed against human beings throughout the middle east by ISIS, etc., over a million Syrian civilians have been rendered homeless, not to mention kidnappings etc. by Boka Harum in Africa. The headline question here was is the outrage justified? Not if comes in place of indignation against crimes perpetrated against humans! If all we are hearing is the outrage for killing a lion, but not a peep about human suffering, well, it’s totally out of place. A classic example of misplaced priorities.
As a Jew and since everyone here is Jewish as well, animals are obviously on a MUCH lower level than a human so NO they should not kill the dentist even tho he did something wrong. Does anyone know why he killed it? Is the guy Jewish because he has a Jewish last name?
He killed it for fun
If the lion killed the dentist would people be worried?
The lion was NOT hefker – he was owned. He was property, and not that of the hunter. He had a permit to kill a wild lion, not a privately owned one. Unless he was drunk, he should have noticed the lion was not acting like a wild savage beast but like a tamed domesticted one that was used as a tourist attraction (normal wild lions go to great lengths to avoid humans – which is why the goyim consider it a test of skill to catch one).
If an American had gone to Zimbabwe, or anywhere else for that matter, and shot some person for sport he would have been confronted by much than outrage. In the US, had he show someones pet or livestock for “sport” he would have caused outrage, and would have been sued and perhaps arrested.
If it makes people feel better, Cecil was 13 Years old. Lions generally live to between 10 and 16 years in the wild and longer in zoos (where they are unlikely to be killed by younger, stronger lions or catch diseases). He had a good innings!
Also, the money that this guy paid for the kovod of killing an unsuspecting animal does go to conservation and as such it is not wasteful.
I do however find the whole thing abhorrent!
The Cecil lived in a protected wild life preserve where it was illegal to shoot it. He was lured out of the protected sanctuary into a place where it wasnt illegal to kill
The people who are outraged at the killing of the lion are the ones who are objecting civilly. The others are there for a sick kind of enjoyment similar to killing a lion for sport.
Those who are pointing out hypocrisy or misplaced priorities of animal rights extremists misunderstand their worldview. Humans are the source of all problems and they support anything that reduces their numbers, including genocide ala ethnic cleansing or ISIS or infanticide. Their utopia would be a world where there were no human births above a fixed ratio, where humans are euthanized as soon as they cease to be productive, and where humans living in areas that were once animal habitats would leave (or feed themselves to the starved displaced animals).
The hunting and slaughter of any animal for sport should always be decried. It is disgusting, abhorrent, and filled with hubris (as is evidenced by the pride that this idiot feels in his accomplishment).That said, I find it curious that all the people who are so outraged over the killing of Cecil (and naming him seems to have humanized him more than is warranted, as there are plenty of other lions who are hunted and killed and no one has protested)have nothing to say about the slaughter of the three Jewish boys in E”Y a year ago, the drowning,fire-setting, beheading, throat-slitting etc. by ISIS and their ilk, or anything that is going on in any foreign country where innocent people are being terrorized and murdered. But let someone hurt one animal in the wild…POW! Let’s string that lion-murderer up and teach HIM a lesson, why don’t we!!!!! Makes me sick.
Names aren’t only for humans. We give them to inanimate objects like boats and buildings too. Cities, businesses, some plants, why not name a lion?
The dentist should have given the lion a filling instead.
Giving a lion a filling takes real foolish bravery.
“have nothing to say about the slaughter of the three Jewish boys in E”Y a year ago, the drowning,fire-setting, beheading, throat-slitting etc. by ISIS and their ilk, or anything that is going on in any foreign country where innocent people are being terrorized and murdered. “
Speak for yourself. I have had a lot to say about those other issues.
Interestingly, Palestinians stoned to death a striped hyena recently, and filmed it and put it on Youtube, and the striped hyena is even more endangered than lions. No outcry, of course, in this upside-down world.
As someone quipped, if you’re and liberal having trouble understanding what the big deal about the Planned Parenthood scandal is, imagine they were selling baby lion parts instead…
We humans like cute, pretty or majestic-looking animals. Lions look regal, while hyenas look malicious. We also prefer eagles over vultures. Just because vultures are ugly.
Humans shoot and kill other humans multiple times a day and nobody screams. In NYC 50 people were shot in 25 separate incidents over the weekend, and all people are worrying about is a dead lion and that perhaps his brother was shot as well. Its a good thing CNN sent me that breaking news alert that it wasnt Cecils brother Jericho that was shot, otherwise my week would have been ruined. Meanwhile several dozen additional “brothers” were shot by humans over the weekend in NYC and its business as usual!!
CharlieHall, I was referring to the rest of the world, all the movie stars and phony liberals who have been saying hang the guy for killing Cecil (and I don’t care that he was named, it’s more that I feel that people relate more to HIM than to other innocent animals that are slaughtered, BECAUSE he has a name and they don’t). I think the dentist is a hunter, and I find hunting fopr sport to be especially loathsome. But there are far worse things going on in the world that cannot elicit even a 10th of the protest that this poor lion has.
People are screaming about the poor Palestinian infant who was burned to death, allegedly by chareidi settlers (until it is proved that this was not done by Palestinians themseleves as a frameup, I will not believe it just because a magen dovid was painted in graffiti and revenge words were written – Palestinians could have done all that themselves). There was an interfaith prayer vigil scheduled, led by a rabbi and an imam, I believe.
Where was the same outcry when the little three month old JEWISH baby was murdered? Where was the world outcry and prayer vigil for the people who were murdered amidst their davening? What about the pregnant woman, an only child expecting her first baby, blown to bits in Sbarros Pizza many years ago? And scores and scores of other truly innocent victims have died at the hands of those who are now calling for an Intifada.
We need to get our priorities straight, call a spade a spade, and as a people worry more about our own tzoros, than about the animal kingdom. Please note, I said worry MORE about our tzoros, which does not mean we should not worry about tzaar baalei chayim. We absolutely should, and we do. But people come before animals. If you are upset about Cecil (as I am ), please encourage others to be at least as worried about Jews.
Can I sell baby striped hyena parts to scared dentists?
Charlie,
“Speak for yourself. I have had a lot to say about those other issues.”
Oomis, in her original post said she was referring to those who say ” Let’s string that lion-murderer up and teach HIM a lesson, why don’t we!!!!! “
Your “outrage” at Oomis indicates that you are among the “Let’s string him up crowd” by your own admission.
Ponder that, why don’t you.
The government in Zimbabwe is corrupt. Its citizens are starving and poor. Nobody says a word about this but a lion gets killed, the whole world goes crazy.
People have always been crazy.
Actually, Im not sure what halacha would say about that. Joseph?
“Here we go again…”
Saving someones life from imminent danger is very different than going into the jungle and torturing a wild lion to death for no other reason than to take your picture with its corps because you are a rich dentist with lots of money you don’t know what to do with.
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