Hey folks, I would like to know what's the LDS position on animal hunting? Maybe someone has some quotes, etc that can provide some information? I am here in Utah and the Church owns two hunting preserves: Deseret Land and Livestock, and Westlake Hunting Preserve in Utah County.
Here is an article about full time LDS missionaries serving in a private hunting preserve owned by the Church. So basically they are raising all these animals, taking care of them for a season for the purpose of these poor creatures being victims of hunting you know what am I saying?
Source 7
They do archery hunting of animals in these places such as elk, can you all imagine what a painful death is this? They also charge over US$10,000 for a single weekend for someone to hunt (and a very, very long waiting list, YEARS!).
Is it that we are sacrificing principle for profit?
I would appreciate some thoughts.
In these farms they used to offered "Canned" hunting, which means they raised animals and place them in a land with a fence (no escape) and then get hunters to come and shoot them to death. After a lot of complaints to the Church, they stopped as well as having missionaries working in them however even though they lease some of these farms now but they have some control over them (making their own regulations) such as no hunting on Sundays, etc, it makes you wonder why in the world would the Church support recreational hunting?
Personally, if the hunted animal is used as food by the hunter, I don't see what the problem is. I do believe that killing animal for sport only is morally wrong, but if one is combining sport with providing for one's family, it seems actually more ethical than buying meat at your local Safeway. People seldom have a problem eating animals that someone else killed, and I think it's hypocritical if those same people are not willing to kill an animal themselves in order to put food on the table. For many people I know that pay for hunting leases, a big part of it is putting honesty and dignity back into the equation, something that is sorely missing for those who just buy 20lb of 90% lean ground beef at their local grocer without thinking twice about where it came from.
Daburto: