Dear Editor:

I am sure by now you must have heard about the fate of Cecil the Lion that was murdered by Walter James Palmer, a United States citizen from Minnesota. He paid $50,000 to go lion hunting in Africa, and ended up torturing and murdering the country’s most famous lion.

Cecil was lured out of the Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park at night time, with a dead animal on top of a vehicle. Palmer then shot Cecil with a crossbow, in which he suffered in agony for 40 hours until Palmer and his helpers tracked him down and shot him with a gun, skinned him, and beheaded him, and then they proceeded to destroy the GPS collar that Cecil was wearing as part of research backed by Oxford University. 

Humans are not the only species that inhabit this planet, we share this planet with magnificent creatures that have as much right to be here as humans do. That is why I am asking my political leaders to take a stand on this issue. It should be illegal to hunt any animal, whether it be in the United States or across the globe. 

All animals face extinction in a country that is lax on animal welfare. I know that hunter’s will vehemently oppose such a bill because they suffer from Napoleon syndrome; this applies to women as well.

To those hunters that say they have a “natural inclination to hunt”, I say lay down your weapons, and come face to face with our opponent, one on one, now that’s a fair hunt.

We need to introduce legislation to ban the import of game trophies of any animal,
whether it be endangered or not, and Walter James Palmer and his co-conspirators should be imprisoned for the rest of their lives, for the unacceptable act of the illegal hunt of Cecil the lion.

My heart aches for Cecil. Our Creator created such a magnificent creature. I can only imagine the intense grief God must have felt upon seeing what this man did to this beautiful animal that didn’t want to die.

When you have no soul, no amount of money can make you feel good about yourself. 

Patty Jackson
Downey