Asheville animal advocates invited to take part in Worldwide Rally Against Trophy Hunting, Feb. 3

Press release from CompassionWorks International: 

Asheville, NC – On Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 11:00 AM concerned animal advocates organized by nonprofit organization CompassionWorks International (CWI) and Asheville Voice for Animals will gather in downtown Asheville to educate the public about trophy hunting.

The rally coincides with the annual conference of Safari Club International (SCI), a pro-trophy hunting organization held in Las Vegas where wild and endangered animals’ lives are auctioned off to the highest bidder (last year, the opportunity to slaughter a Canadian polar bear was sold at the auction for $72,000). Individuals from across the country will come together to protest the SCI convention and shine a light on the brutal and immoral practice of trophy hunting.

The Asheville event is part of the Worldwide Rally Against Trophy Hunting which is taking place in 36 cities across 17 states, the District of Columbia, and eight countries including Zimbabwe, England, Australia, Brazil, and Serbia.

The rally was mentioned in a recent Newsweek article.

“We believe it is important to expose the truth about what trophy hunting is,” says Carrie LeBlanc, Executive Director of CWI. “The senseless killing of wildlife with the intent to cut off their heads or other body parts for exhibition as “trophies” or to “gain points” on some sadistic scorecard is NOT a sport. It is the pointless and selfish killing of another being, including endangered species, for entertainment and vanity.”

Ms. LeBlanc appears in the CNN film “Trophy,” which recently premiered on the news station.

President Trump recently spoke out against trophy hunting, despite the fact that his sons are avid trophy hunters. Trump stated,“I didn’t want elephants killed and stuffed and have the tusks brought
back into this [country] and people can talk all they want about preservation and all of the things that they’re saying where money goes towards ― well, money WAS going ― in that case, going to a government which was probably taking the money, OK?”

An estimated 190,000 wild animals are exported as trophies globally and an even greater unknown number are killed by local trophy hunters without entering the global trade. Some of the commonly hunted species include duck and geese species, black and grizzly bears, various hoofed mammals, wolves, cougars, bobcats, polar bears, moose, elk, many African species, and others. Generally only the wealthy can afford to trophy hunt. An elephant hunt can cost as much as $62,000 and one hunter paid $350,000 at an auction for the right to kill a rare black rhino.

Ms. LeBlanc states, “The slaughter of other living beings for the purpose of entertainment is archaic, cruel, and must end. It is irrational to believe that the killing of wildlife is a reasonable approach to conservation. CWI calls for a complete ban on the import of ‘trophies’ into the U.S. and for governments around the world to recognize that widlife tourism and watching are a far more profitable and compassionate means for ensuring the survival of native species.”

Asheville animal advocates are invited to join the peaceful, educational demonstration on Saturday, February 3. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/203367800211969/

Visit notyourtrophy.org for more information

CompassionWorks International is a nonprofit animal advocacy organization dedicated to creating a more compassionate world for all beings. www.cwint.org