PIG HUNTING SHOULD BE BANNED

Posted on December 15, 2024

by Sandra Kyle, Editor, May Safely Graze

 

A 77 year old man was taken into custody this week, and given name suppression.  The man has been accused to shooting two pig hunters, one of whom died at the scene, the other airlifted to hospital in non-critical condition.

This tragic incident took place on a remote rural road, the 309 road on the Coromandel Peninsula.  There on the property his parents bought more than 70 years ago the man shares his life with hundreds of ‘wild’ pigs.  He feeds them, looks after them, tends to them when they’re sick or injured.  He’s well known in the area and tourists drop by from all over to meet the pigs and cuddle the piglets.  Film makers Amy Taylor and James Muir interviewed him ten years ago, and the video is available on youtube.

“I’m here to help them,” the man says in the video of his friendly, domesticated pigs.  “If they get sick or anything they come up to see me.  If a pig dog’s chewed their ears off or arrows sticking out their stout.

“They’ve got real neat natures.  They’ve all got their own personalities like people. Little gentle souls. They don’t do anyone any harm. They’re really social animals. It really upsets me when they run them over on purpose, grab them, knife them, stick them with a crossbow. It’s a really cruel death.

“They just walk up to people and they just shoot them with a crossbow. Put them in all that pain. Very slow deaths.  Breaks your heart when you see an animal suffering like that”.

The pensioner is always having run-ins with pig hunters, who come onto his property at night, trying to steal his pigs.  Some are deliberately mowed down by cars.  “I normally bury them facing towards the sun. Not sure why.  I’m an old fella but I still cry when I lose an animal”.

Recently a New Zealand pig-hunting TikTok showed a wild boar cornered by six dogs.  The hunter can be heard egging his dogs on as three of them latch onto the pig’s face.

The boar is cornered by the increasing number of dogs sinking their teeth into his body, and then the hunter walks over and slaps the pig’s leg.  The pig tries to kick back and you can hear him groaning in pain.  The video went viral.

Is this what we celebrate?  The torture of animals?  Ill-treatment of wild animals is an offence under the New Zealand Animal Welfare Act 1999, but a defence can be made if the alleged conduct is considered generally accepted hunting practice.  How can shooting animals with a crossbow and dogs be deemed accepted hunting practice?

As far as I’m concerned there is no accepted hunting practice.  When we examine hunting through a lens of ethics and compassion, it becomes evident that all forms of hunting are fundamentally wrong, irrespective of the justifications for it. Pig hunting should be banned, at the very least there should be an immediate ban on using dogs and crossbows.  It is blatant cruelty to pigs to put them through such torment, and it’s also dangerous for the dogs.

The tragedy this week has touched many lives.  A family is grieving for the loss of their loved one, and hundreds of pigs are now without their dad and carer.   This normally gentle, mild-mannered man, after twenty years of trying to protect his pets, found hunters trying to kill them and he finally snapped.

He will be appearing in Court this week.  I will be following this case with interest.

And meantime, who will look after the pigs?  Will hunters be having a killing fest on the Coromandel Peninsula?

Comments

  • Emere McDonald says:

    Kia ora Yes, I agree Sandra Kyle! It is disgusting how hunters kill pigs with dogs and crossbows! It is an agonizing and torturous death! Taking pleasure in another being’s suffering is shameful and can lead to the murder of human being because of the developed lack of empathy in the hunters. If they practise on animals they will very likely demonstrate also a lack of empathy for a vulnerable and defenseless human being.
    Yes, I agree all hunting is immoral and hunting pigs with dogs and crossbows should be banned immediately!
    It is no sport at all if one of the parties is vulnerable, innocent and defenseless.

  • Sandra Watson says:

    I have know this man who regarded his pigs as his family, for many years,
    I have regularly taken vegs from my garden, fruit and bread to feed the pigs many locals have done so as well,
    Their owner was always so appreciative and spoke lovingly of his family, along with many locals we are willing to support the owner,the pigs, and whatever help is needed,

  • Lynley says:

    Great piece Sandra. I agree that pig hunting should be banned outright. I’m incredulous that such animal cruelry is.ignored and even sanctioned. Thus is a tragedy all round.

  • Gia says:

    I really think you should reconsider removing that last sentence. We don’t want to give these sickos anymore ideas! However, thank you for the article

  • Luz says:

    I just donated in another page to support caring for the pigs. But at the same time, I am willing to support mr. Edmonson legal costs of his defense. This was not a simple “homicide”, I am sure. I do not want to justify what he did, but it is only fair to consider all the surrounding circumstances of the incident, including having to endure vicious and cruel attacks against the animals he was protecting.

  • Chris Ogilvie says:

    While I agree that pig hunting is a pretty gruesome business, especially from the pig’s point of view, there is another whole problem to be considered. Feral pigs do quite well in many places, and are a curse to native wildlife, fences and grass lands which they dig up. In many areas the pig numbers are effectively controlled by the hunters; if hunting ceased then pig numbers would explode. This needs to be addressed. Maybe schools need to work harder to teach empathy, even toward pigs (and pig dogs) so that hunters treat the animals a whole lot better. PS. Stu is my neighbour and I have been working to help.

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