Make peace

Dear sir:
This letter is in reply to Rob Sinclair and the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s demand that the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters pay back $1 million to the Ontario taxpayers.
First of all, there are many, many Ontario taxpayers who feel the money was truly wasted by the IFAW, whether they won in court or not.
They started the attack by getting the spring bear hunt cancelled and the OFAH had the right to defend the hunter’s position. That $1 million is nothing compared to the revenue (lost taxes) and jobs lost by the cancellation of this hunt.
With the increase in the bear population due to the reduced harvest, there are more bear coming into populated areas and being destroyed for our children’s safety.
Does the IFAW feel that the total waste of an animal is more humane and ethical than the harvest of an animal where it will be used and the economy is helped? Do they feel that an overpopulation of diseased animals (already there are reports of heartworm) is more humane and ethical than a healthy, managed population (which is what we had)?
Diseases are out there. Right now, deer are carriers of brainworm. This has transferred to the moose and are killing them. Cattle could easily be in danger, too.
The Ministry of Natural Resources is working to contain this but the more out-of-control a population is, the more difficult it is to control the spread of disease.
The OFAH is widely known for its conservation ethics. They work with the MNR in the best interest of our wildlife. These people in the field know a whole lot more about wildlife management than those in the concrete jungles.
As far as I can see, organizations such as the IFAW want a separate human world and natural world. They say hunting is inhumane, but two bear fighting to the death is part of nature.
Well, whether they like it or not, we are part of nature, too. We are not a parasite on this earth. We are actually its keeper and that includes interaction with and management of the animals.
If the members of the IFAW would put their incredible energies into problems such as the poor and hungry on our streets, or the sick in our hospitals, I can just imagine the possibilities.
After World War II, my father made the statement that peace would not last long. Someone would want trouble. Some people are not happy unless they can cause some problems.
I thought he was referring to other countries, as I was only 15, not our fellow countrymen and certainly not in our province.
All this fighting makes Canadians further apart. Let’s stop all these things that make wedges between people and work for a united Canada.
Try love! Read the Ten Commandments and think deeply about it that it is the only law etched in stone.
Thank you,
Lloyd O. Moen