As vegetarian, do you reject fishing or hunting more?

by Eric
(Virgina)

Question: I grew up in an area where hunting and fishing is a way of life, and considered fun and relaxing. If you are vegetarian or vegan, do you have more objections against hunting or fishing? or both?

Answer from Belsandia: Both so-called "sports" are bad and cruel to animals. We now know that fish feel pain too, so their suffering is similar to other animals. I don't endorse fishing or hunting.

Personally I am more disgusted by hunting, as I saw "bragging videos" where the animals were just pierced with an arrow through an organ and slowly suffocated, or they were cut half-way by some trapping device. In none of these videos did the hunters show any urgency to end the animals' suffering. Hunting is very cruel and the animals don't all die fast. I even heard that hunters seed special plants that deer like so much that they congregate in that area - just to become easier prey for the kill.

Another atrocious version of hunting is the "canned hunt" where wild animals are kept in confined spaces so that wanna-be big game hunters can shoot them from their cushy armchairs remotely. This has nothing to do with sports and it should be illegal!

Then there is the question of why? What exactly is the purpose of hunting? No one needs to hunt for subsistence in this country. Are people playing Wild West in some displaced romanticizing of the old times? Are hunters trying to assert dominance and power over their prey, as they can't do it anywhere else? In my eyes it's a sign of weakness to hunt and kill an innocent animal just for bragging rights.

As vegan I don't support killing animals for any reason whatsoever. I also believe that this desensitization to violence often leads to other forms of abuse.