For immediate release:
July 2, 2021
Contact:
But back 202-483-7382
Norfolk, Virginia. – In response to a new proposal from the US Fisheries and Wildlife Service to expand hunting and fishing in 90 national wildlife sanctuaries and fish farms, PETA sent a letter today to the agency’s chief deputy director Martha Williams asking them to name these areas as they are if the proposal is accepted : National Wildlife Slaughter Areas.
“Animals are denied the right to simply exist in their wild homes, but taxpayers do have a right to hear that their money is subsidizing more and more recreational killings on public lands, ”says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Words matter – and PETA is urging the federal government to stop trying to pass off areas as wildlife sanctuaries when they actually kill fields.”
PETA, whose motto is in part that “animals are not in our hands to be abused in any way,” is opposed to arrogance, a worldview focused on human superiority. For more information please visit PETA.org or subscribe to the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram… You can contact me by phone 571-383-4128 or [email protected]… Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
This is followed by a letter from PETA to Williams.
July 2, 2021
Martha Williams
First Deputy Director
U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service
Re: Registry number FWS-HQ-NWRS-2021-0027
Dear Miss Williams,
I am writing on behalf of PETA and over 6.5 million of our members and supporters around the world in response to the largest proposal to date to expand access to hunting and sport fishing on 2.1 million acres across 90 national wildlife sanctuaries and one national land. fish. hatchery – land that was originally intended for sanctuary for wildlife. Out of respect for American taxpayers, who should be fully aware that they support recreational murders on public lands, please don’t. Or, if the proposal is accepted, we propose that the US Fisheries and Wildlife Service (FWS) rename the national “shelters” to reflect – honestly – what they are: National Wildlife Killing Areas.
Merriam-Webster defines “refuge” as a place that provides refuge or protection. Words matter, and with this latest proposal, the National Wildlife Refuge continues to create everyone except safe haven, ensuring that our public lands are not a safe haven for the countless wild families that make them their home. Instead, they are just playgrounds for amateur hunters.
Hunting and fishing cause great suffering, and only a small proportion of Americans are engaged in these activities – 5% and just over 16%, respectively. Hunting disrupts migration and hibernation patterns, destroys animal families and is ineffective in reducing wildlife populations. Left alone, most animal populations regulate their own numbers, but they have no chance of doing so when FWS allows them to thrive year after year and then allows people happy with guns to create outdoor slaughterhouses. Fish have a tremendous potential for suffering, just like dogs and cats, and discarded fishing debris is a deadly threat to “non-target” wildlife, including protected species.
Murder is not conservation. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the first official sanctuaries in 1940, it was forbidden to “hunt, trap, catch, deliberately disturb, or kill any bird or wild animal” therein. We urge FWS to prioritize the nonviolent “compatible uses” outlined in the National Wildlife Refuge Act 1997, and we support Americans in peaceful outdoor activities such as birdwatching (which became popular in time of a pandemic), photography, hiking (which has grown by 134% in popularity since 2019) and canoeing that promote true respect for nature and wildlife. Thanks for attention.
Yours sincerely,
Ingrid Newkirk
The president