Protect wildlife, not its killers

The July 21 letter “Sportsmen not fairly portrayed” — a weak rebuttal to Fred Voltz’s July 11 guest column, “Disenfranchisement is a hallmark of the Nevada Wildlife Commission” — attempts to bestow accolades on hunters for killing Nevada’s wildlife.

Hunters love using euphemisms such as “harvesting” and “gathering” when they kill wildlife, to obscure the ugly and brutal truth of familial and landscape disruptions. They even go so far as to relocate wildlife for their killing pleasure.

A reasonable mind must ask just how sporting it is to relentlessly pursue unarmed animals, using armaments and other technology advantages. It is anything but an equally matched pursuit, which is what defines any sport, be it baseball, boxing, basketball, football or ice hockey.

If Nevada is serious about enhancing and protecting its wildlife, we need more than a handful of game wardens in the field statewide at any given moment to enforce laws and regulations.

We need to stop the brutal wildlife-killing contests that glorify hunting.

We also need a governor and Legislature that are willing to appropriate more than a paltry half-million dollars a year from the general fund to build watering holes, support protection efforts without ulterior motives, and shield our wildlife from the craven hunters who imbalance nature by their actions.

We have had decades of inaction by elected and appointed officials, except to protect wildlife killers. When are these officials going to start doing their duty toward our wildlife?

Marchelle Hedrick, Las Vegas