Kruger an 'animal supermarket'

2009-07-14 10:05

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Elise Tempelhoff

Pretoria - A blistering attack has been launched on the Kruger National Park by animal welfare organisations worried about the fate of the wild animals, specifically white rhino.

"The Kruger National Park has developed into a kind of supermarket trading in animals to make even more money."

The organisations claimed it had become time that the Sanparks board resigned as they had "failed" in their task to properly protect and conserve the country’s wild animals, and specifically, white rhinoceros.

This followed on Monday after the death of at least 10 of the 200 white rhinos, who were recently sold at an auction.

The organisations were also furious that a rhino that was bought by a Free State game breeder on Friday at the game park, fell from a trailer on the N4 between Witbank and Middelburg.

The trailer’s tyre apparently burst and it fell over with the rhino. The frightened animal ran around in the area before it was caught and again loaded onto the trailer.

Ethical and moral issues

"The incident raises several ethical and moral issues," said Louise Joubert, owner of SanWild, a rehabilitation centre and nature reserve near Gravelotte in Limpopo on Monday.

Joubert said that was not how an animal of more than three tonnes should be transported. She accused the game park’s management of not caring about the fate of the animals in which they "trade".

A spokesperson for the game reserve said the matter was "now very sensitive" as the auction had "kicked up plenty of dust".

He did say that as soon as the animals had new owners, the park had no control over their futures.

Joubert responded and said that was exactly what she was worried about.

According to a statement by the organisations, the commercial trade in white rhino held a far greater threat to the endangered animals, than poaching.

A total of 58 rhinos were over the past 18 months stripped for their horns.

Call to boycott the park

Sanparks didn't want to answer questions on Monday and said an urgent press conference would be held at headquarters in Pretoria on Tuesday.

Steve Smith of Animal Rights Africa (ARA) over the weekend called on the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs to put a moratorium on the sale of white rhino.

The organisations claim the park's rhinos belong to the people of South Africa and that they should be consulted about the animals' future before they are randomly sold.

Michelle Pickover, also from ARA, on Monday night said the park's board should resign and a commission of inquiry should be appointed to investigate among others, the mismanagement of natural resources.

Joubert said the organisation would now begin with campaigns to ask prospective tourists coming to visit the country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, to boycott the Kruger National Park.

- Beeld

Read more on: sanparks | kruger national park | white rhino | animal trading | animal supermarket

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The Kruger park management is a disgrace and an embarrasment to the people of SA. What they disregard is the fact that the park belongs to us, namely the citizens os SA. Public servants should be exactly that... PUBLIC servants and not create a lap of luxury for themselves! We South Africans only have ourselves to blame. We should wake up and sort out the fat farms!

SanWild's response sounds like the typical response from an animal welfare orginasation. They don't have a clue.
Why don't they release reasons for and details of how the animals died instead of critisizing Sanparks. If they were killed
for their horns by their buyers, it is different and this kind of reaction acceptable. If not, do better research
and rather trace the money raised by the auction and ensure that it is used for projects in the Kruger. By the way, it is normal to sell animals on an auction - KZN Wildlife's annual auction raises
a lot of money by selling rhino. Which person/breeder would pay R250 000 per animal just to kill it?

Don't prove your ignorance, do better research.

These animal activists sicken me - if they only cared half as much for their human counterparts the world would be a better place. They would complain if the park was left barren because of overgrazing if the animal numbers are not limited. They will also complain if these animals were given away. They do very little but talk and upset the people who care for the total environment - humans plus fuana plus flora. Please get real

I am sure there is not one person in South Africa that would disagree that it is necessary to conserve our fauna and flora for generations to come.
Keeping this is mind it is important for us to remember that the parks that was proclaimed by humans is in essence not a natural environment for the wild animals. They are fenced in sanctuaries where we conserve the animals that was to us by God. The naturals cycles of migrations (fenced in), draught cycles (we provide water) ca not be followed by these creatures we protect. Hence we need to either move some of the animals to other parks (we do not have enough parks) or cull them to have a sustainable number of animals in order not to compromise the close eco-system as a whole.
Kruger is a perfect example of the above. Neither the funds nor alternative resources (parks) are available to move these animals too. A simple example is the elephant population of Kruger. The park as a closed eco-system cannot carry more than 5000 animals (confirmed by various researchers). Yet, at present there is an excess of 15 000 elephants in the park. They are quickly destroying the closed eco-system, compromising ALL other animals (bugs, buck, birds, etc) that also need to live here.
The question that needs to answered by these so called “greenies”… Where do they propose these animals must be moved to? If you have not checked lately an elephant bull weighs in excess of 2 tonnes and the whole family group must be moved to maintain the natural cycle. Rather cull these animals and have a sustainable park that can be enjoyed by generations to come. At the current rate of destruction Kruger will not have one top canopy tree left in the next 15 years. Where will all the birds live them? Where will the monkeys play? Where will the buck rest on a hot summers day?

Think about it logically for a change!

The transport of the N4 rhino was utterly irresponsible and most probably illegal from a road ordinance point of view. The relevant game farmer should be thrown the book, both by animal welfare and the road authorities.
But is it necessary to moan like done in this article about the general sale of (successfully breeding) white rhinos from the Kruger? Game "farming" is part of game conservation, how else would you a.o. ensure financially sustainable genetic distribution! The complaints sounds just like the usual thoughtless treehugger reaction. Maybe the journalist here should learn to view, listen and comment critically, and not just quote some feigned histerical concerns from these self appointed "animal friends".
And to suggest that "the people of SA should be consulted before a rhino sale" is just plain naive.

My parents just came from the Kruger Park and from all accounts it seems that they also don't care about the general maintenance of the park with filthy toilets from the entrance and through out the park as well as the chalets showing wear as well.

This is a fine example of alarmist, amateur and sensational reporting. Raino explains it perfectly: The Park is heavily overpopulated by big game, so much in fact that a lot of the big game are actually starting to kill each other. SANPARKS is also heavily under funded, so instead of simply culling thousands of animals they sell them to other game farms who can introduce fresh genes into their breeding stock.

One more thing: SANPARKS don’t transport the animals, independent contractors do.

Mrs Tempelhoff needs to do more research

I just came back from a holiday in The Kruger Park. It seems that there are less animals than previous years. Is there anybody in the know that can shed some light on the animal population in the park in the last few years?

@Merlot, there are a lot of people that would pay R250 000 to kill a rhino. u know in vietnam they believe the ivory cures cancer. i was told of a story (by a ranger) of a 70 year old vietnamese lady that bought one and shot it. They had to line the rhino up and put the gun on a tripod cause she was too old to hold the gun. Sick. U go do your research you pr@t

How tiresome these activists are. They clearly do not understand that in order for conservation to be possible, there has to be some cash available. They also need to gain a little perspective. We here in South Africa have about > 9000 white rhino. I think that 200 animals is a very small percentage of the population and the funds of their sale will go on to contribute to the conservation of the Kruger. And what is this nonsense about boycotting the Kruger? These activists claim to be concerned for our wildlife but they then tell people not to spend and thus contribute to conservation by boycotting the Kruger. What happens if the Kruger is forced to sell land or even worse close down? Heaven forbid - wildlife would then be destroyed and replaced with cattle and/ or end up on hunting farms. These activists are fools with the mental capacity of retards. Sies.

Ignorance is bliss. Let's assume that the rhino population is not endangered (well done on your anti-poaching drive SANPARK) and there are plenty of white rhino which is obviously the case if they publicly auction 200 of the animals. This is a typically one-sided article where not all the facts have been researched and presented. 200 white rhino at 250k a pop is 50 million rands. If this money is well spent on projects and maintaining the park for future generations, then what exactly is the problem? The personal crusade should be to check that SANPARKS officials are not using the money to line their pockets as is common in this country. Oh, and accidents happen. Surely nobody would deliberately put a R250k rhino at risk through poor transportation. Harden up, this country has got bigger issues at hand, especially humanitarian ones!

What a lot of rubbish these animal rights people are speaking.

I had the priveledge on my last trip to Kruger to be part of the capture of 6 Rhino. The teams that did this, from the Helicopter pilot, State Vet who darted the animals, ground crew with park rangers etc, were incredibly professional. The entire process per Rhino took no more than 10 to 15 minutes from darting, imobilising, testing and putting into the crates.

While on the capture I spoke to the local ranger and he indicated that the Rhino population is growing at a rate of approximately 8% per annum. The population is mainly situated in the south. This region cannot sustain this growth and so something has to be done to manage the biodiversity of the entire ecosystem. This is done through these game captures. The Rhino are either sold or are moved to a more northerly region of the park, thus encouraging a more widespread population. Another interesting point is that the game captures are mainly done near and to the west of the Mozambique border. This means that Rhinos close to the border (which are being targeted by poachers) are either being moved, or are being encouraged to move into more central regions of the south that have been vacated by the relocated Rhino.

Yes the park doesnt really have any control over what happens to the Rhino after they are sold, but these people are not stupid. Prospective buyers are surely screened before they are allowed to purchase a rare animal such as the Rhino.

From what I experienced in Kruger, these people are incredibly professional and have the best interests of the animals at heart. We need to trust them as they are doing an incredible job.

So to these "bunny huggers" go and experience this for yourself. You will see how professional it is and will then have some facts to base your viewpoints on in the future, not like this case where you have blown your mouths off without any basis of fact or evidence!!!

The story does not say how much money was raised from the auction. I would estimate as follows:

200 white rhinos x R200,000 each = R40million. If this money is ploughed back into conservation e.g. research, anti-poaching etc then what a huge bonus for the park. Good work KNP - realistic, commercial. You cannot reasonably expect the KNP to safeguard 200 rhinos after they have left the park.

Furthermore, the park can only accommodate X number of rhinos so it is important that they do remove excess rhinos. What a great tragedy it would be if the 200 rhinos were simply left to die in the bush. How would that contribute scarce resources (money) to conservation? It wouldn't.

Steve Smith and Michelle Pickover of Animal Rights Africa you are ignorant, dangerous and unrealistic.

Animal rightists are dangerous groups. They use the emotional appeal of animals (especially cute ones like baby seals, baby elephants etc) to raise huge amounts of money. Most of that money goes towards their salaries, travel expenses, admin costs, marketing costs etc. Some of the money is spent on key projects. Key projects = those projects that will gain them lots of publicity so that they can get even more money. It's BIG business. That's why there are so many animal rights groups around nowadays. Some of these animal rights groups are very extreme and resort to intimidation (of people/companies against them) and acts of terror to further their objectives. Recently, in the UK an animal rights group dug up a grave and held the body ransom. The family of the deceased had somehow upset them. Crazy. There are a number of animal rights groups that are listed as terrorist organisations in the US.

The largest conservation organisation in the world, the IUCN, is concerned with conservation, animal welfare and sustainable utilisation. i.e. the IUCN reconizes that animals can and should be used for their products (including meat, skins etc) but that no species should be endangered by this nor should animals suffer unecessarily. Therefore there is a huge difference between animals welfare (making sure that whilst using the animals for meat etc they are treated with respect and do suffer unecessarily) and animals rights which places the rights of animals as equal to those of humans. Animal rightists believe that no animal should be used in any way for anything - no meat, no leather, no milk, no zoos, no fishing. Their stated objectives are to use whatever means possible to achieve equality for animals. Unrealistic and dangerous.

What is real is ...
- That there is an overpopulation of white rhino (and elephants) in the Kruger Park
- That elephants and rhino have no natural predators (the % that get killed each year by predators is negligable, <2%)
- That too many elephants and rhinos in the Kruger Park will lead to degradation of habitat due to overgrazing, damaging trees etc. This will lead to other species becomming endangered in the park e.g. if the elephants destroy too many trees (which they have already done) where will the little bushbabies (nagapies) live? They live in trees and jump from tree to tree, almost never come down to the ground. If the trees get thinned out then they have to come down to walk to the next tree which is now quite a distance away. And they get eaten by predators.
- That for the sake of ALL species, animal numbers in Kruger should be regulated and kept to a scientifically accepted maximum number. ESPECIALLY large herbivors since they do the most damage the quickest.
- Where there are excess animals in Kruger they should preferably be sold which will raise much needed funds which can be used for conservation. Alternatively, the excess should be culled and the by-products (meat, skins etc sold). Meat can also be sold VERY cheaply to poor communities adjoining the Park. This will also provide those communities with an incentive to reduce illegal poaching since they would regularly get cheap or even free meat.
- Those who buy live animals from the Kruger Park should take reasonable precautions to transport the animals safely and without subjecting them to unecessary stress.

GET REAL

Correct Punani, SANParks is increasingly being run by politicians, because the pot is very big. Political appointments abound throughout their structure these days. Someone needs to track the cash. These people are hugging some very expensive trees very tight.

This is an attack on SANParks by ignorant "bunny huggers" who fail to see the bigger picture.

YES - The animals belong to the people of South Africa, but SANParks do not recieve total government funding as they did in the past and are forced to generate their own income for the greater conservation of our natural areas, including the habitat that supports the "oh so cute and persecuted rhino". Live game sales is not only a way generate income for this purpose, but actually benefits the species been sold (increases distribution range etc etc etc)... So stop whining and focus on the real problems!

It seems a number of the respondents could well be SANPARK employees.
Its quite obvious that in an enclosed environment it may become necessary to move animals around in order to diversify the gene pool, but what cannot be condoned is that 10 of the animals died in the process, there-in lies the real crime.

Yes, we all know about over-population of animals vs land availability - but the real issues are that the Kruger needs money and I know this!! I am also aware that if you want to get into SanParks and be a supplier, you need to be prepared to pay heavy backhanders. If you comply with this you can supply them even if your prices are not the most competitive. So I guess conversation money is going into paying SanParks suppliers' loaded prices not to mention heavy salaries and bonuses. What about the daily conservation fee you have to pay now to visit SanParks? This was supposed to be budget for 'conservation' purposes not for bonuses and backhanders. Our poor Park - when it becomes another Afrian tragedy perhaps then some of these learned folk who write of culling and selling will sing a different song. Wake up before it's too late!

Actually it is people like you that are sick. People spend far too much time and resources caring for humankind and neglecting or murdering animals. Some human culling would go a long way to sorting out the problems of this world. If you are religious maybe you should go back to your bible where God said that humans are the caretakers of fauna and flora - we're doing a good job of that aren't we. We care too much humans and more specifically ourselves. Look outwards and beyond your own supposed importance in this world and realise that you are just a link in the food chain. If you kill the rest of the food chain you will die anyway. Stop being so selfish and self-centered.

SANPARKS have a duty of care to ensure their wildlife is bought by buyers competent in caring for their welfare & dietary needs not anyone with sufficient funds but no experience. Trading wildlife like common livestock is not conservation its making a quick buck. They have a moral responsibility to screen potential buyers so as to avoid situations where animals suffering owner neglect & ignorance have to eventually be rescued at great cost or euthanased.

Personally, I think Sanparks is doing a fantastic job. I have got my wildcard and I use it often. All the parks Ive been to are beautifully kept and really affordable. The game rangers (as well as the honorary rangers) are all very passionate about nature and I don't hear them, all being experts in their own right, complaining. Boikot the Kruger for the WC? That is so stupid, it's funny...

I agree with Raino 10.39.29am ..
May month, we have been in Southern Kruger Park, we normally go more North... where there are much more elephant... but there
we did not actually see Rhino... where as
in Pretorius Kop area we have seen Rhino every day. The Parks are good and clean,
no problem, everyday someone will be around to see to problems. Yes, I feel there are less animals overall. But then again, May month the grass was still very tall.
I will not boycot Kruger Park. It is the best place on this earth to visit.

Get real guys. Its not the trade of animals that should be slated but rather the manner in which the trade is conducted. National Parks, like any other organisation, needs to generate an income in order to stay in existence. It produces animals, and derives income from the "sale" of its product, be it to tourists, breeders, newly established game farms etc. Its called sustainable resource utilization.

SO, the question is not whether or not they should trade in animals - the answer is very simple - Yes. But rr\ather lets look at improving the manner in which they conduct the trade to minimize incidents as described above.

Understand too that were it not for tarde, hunting etc, most game farms and reserves would be under cattle. SO which would you prefer - visiting a cattle farm for your holiday or a game farm?

I wish for an article about animals with no emotion attached to it, only scientificcally based information. I don't see any scientific information in this article and very little to zero in some comments.

It is true that the animals belong to all South Africans, but there are people appointed to manage that on our behalf. People that are qualified and base their decisions on scientific facts, not emotions. I visit the Kruger Park regularly for the past 20 years and I can assure you that the park can not accomodate all the large herbivores.

I think that Sanparks deserve to be congratulated on what they achieve in their current situation. They should however do the right thing that the scientists are asking for based on facts, not emotions. Only then will our children have a Kruger Park that can be shown to the world.

About boycotting the Kruger Park. It is a mentality creaping into our people. I'll rather strike or boycott than to see someone else having success, only because I don't agree. It is more spiting yourself than anything else.

Let's get real and works with facts, not emotions.

Money always brings out the dark side in people, Both the activists and the Parks management are right . The parks needs the money to continue , however this needs to be done in a transparent and beneficial way to all, Rhino included .Parks management should be accountable but no need for extreme action.
The trailer guy is saying s*&% happens , but it's 250k, so I don't think he meant for it to happen.

The funds generated by games sales in SANPARKS go exclusively to a Park Developement fund.The money raised in this way is then used to purchase more land for the expansion of/and establishment of new parks. As a former Park employee, I can confidently state that the money is jealously guarded over by the trustees, and not released for day to day running of Kruger or any other SANPark.

To my knowledge, there are Provincial or National legislation in place to prohibit the hunting an animal bought on an auction for a specified period. If I am not mistaken, it is something like 2 years.

The state of ablutions and accommodation is not a Conservation issue, and to comment as a generalization to get on the bandwagon to tarnish Kruger is, rubbish.

To all the ignorant people out there, Firstly, please relise that the white rhino is an extremely ENDANGERED species-this means that in a few years they could cease to exist!! To me this is a problem because it was we (HUMANS) who have senteced this speicies to extinction...Please do not tell me of how we should care about people first-when people are the reasons that animals become endanged. Animals, unfortunatley can not talk and there fore do not have a voice to speak out. What most-not all of the animal organisations do are commendable to say the least-they are out there fighting for INNCOCENT animals who are being exploited and killed off by HUMANS.What are you doing for society and if you realy care so much about humans, then why dont you get up and go work for the red cross or somthing,dont sit at your desk, leaving negative comments..go out and do somthing!!!!!!The sale of our animals need to be regulated and when it comes to an endanged species even more so!

I am your typical bunny hugger, but we are definitely not stupid. However we do care about our wildlife and we further care about conservation in our parks. If and when scientific evidence can be submitted and substantiate that indeed there is an over population of white rhinos in the Kruger, all reasonable people will understand that it will be necessary to remove some of them.

However under the current circumstances prevailing in South Africa with a huge increase in the poaching of white rhinos on private land, in provincial game reserves and in national parks like the Kruger, the precautionary principle should be applied to ensure the conservation of the species and rhinos should not be sold off as hunting trophies but only to expand the range of the species and ensure their survival.

There is not an overpopulation of white rhinos in the Kruger and that is fact. Further more if and when we do decide to agree to sell off these rhinos why not build in protection and ensure their long-term futures and their lives at the very least. After all they are endangered and we have a conservation responsibility to the world. The global trend in conservation is to protect endangered species from cradle to grave; so to speak.

Why then not sell sub-adult rhinos or those suited to breeding; why determine which rhino is to be captured and sold on its horn length?

Are you aware that certain professional hunting outfitters have been purchasing large numbers of rhinos every year. For example in year 1 they purchase 60, in year two they purchase 40; many of which are purchased from the Kruger Park. What do you think happen to these rhinos? What will you say if you were given proof that a single buyer this year alone purchased 200 rhinos?

I am proud to be an animal lover; as it is needed to ensure that our rhinos are not pushed back to the brink of extinction by man’s greed.

OMG!! Karen (12:05:49)..."animals murdered" ???!!! Animals are killed, humans are murdered. This comment is as ridiculous as the animal rights protest in Cape Town late last year, where people marched for more than 2 hours chanting "relocate, don't assassinate" against the culling of the rabbits that destroyed Robben island's vergetation. "Assassinate"??? Again, you chops, it is cull, not "assassinate". And the worst of all is, these same people that were marching against the "assassination" of the bunnies, were dragging along a three-legged dog for the whole time...spot the irony?? Who is really the cruel ones?

That, people, is what happens when people are ruled by their emotions, and not common sense. And the same applies to Diablo... the story(!)you were told about the Vietnamese woman shooting a rhino for its ivory (?!)... where did you hear that, on Spekskiet perhaps? You do realise it is no more than a story, don't you, because Rhino's do not have ivory? That is how ridiculous you people are.

Realist, great insights there. Thanks for sharing that info about the animal rights terrorists. To these animal rights activists... how about some introspection and realism, that may elevate public opinion about you.

Wow some seriously misguided anger on this forum!
I have to support the need for Wildlife management and the sale and control of game; in order to effectively manage numbers.
Are these greenies the same people who are screaming to ban the culling?

Anytime you have a solution..........just shout it out...........I'm all ears!

Have any of you guys been to the Kruger recently........and please take this from where it comes.......I am a true ANC cynic and disbeliever.........but guys the condition and management within the Kruger today, at worst matches, but in most instances certainly exceeds that that was in place under previous regimes..........go see for yourself before you scream for boycotts and other idiotic self defeating attacks on the custodians of our wildlife heritage!!!

@Raino- Its because of your logic that the world is the way it is....Please keep it up and one day when your children or grandchildren are the endangered species because humans have destroyed nature completley, then please remeber to look at the facts...

I think it is also important to not always judge animal welfare people; had our voices not been heard this country would be a lot worse off in many respects.

However just for a moment understand what is really happening in South Africa’s wildlife industry. As government departments come apart there are a number of unethical people that will exploit the opportunity and in this lies the danger to the Kruger rhinos.

Although some of them are being sold to expand the range of the species, a large number of rhinos are sold to professional hunting outfitters that fuel and abuse the legal hunting permitting system for their own financial gain.

In South Africa there is a lot of hunting that takes place on a non-sustainable basis and the animals that are shot in these hunts have become known as put-and-take animals. What this basically boils down to is that animals that are recently relocated to a new area is shot within days, hours or even on the relocation truck on which it is transported.

The reason why this is happening is that the hunting outfitters do not have a sustainable population on the land on which he is hunting to supply the demand. That is why there are a number of male only live game auctions every year where trophy males of all species are sold off to the highest bidder. In many instances record sales and new record sales prices are set at these auctions. This means that should an outfitter purchase a waterbuck or kudu bull for example and pay an astronomical price for it; he already has a hunter on this property waiting to kill this particular animal. If such an animal is purchase for breeding stock to help create a surplus of a species; there is simply no need to pay an inflated price for it. All adult male animals can do the job.

The same applies to rhinos; why is rhinos in the Kruger targeted and captured according to their horn size?

The sale of the rhinos if it was based on overpopulation and sound ecological research would not present a problem to all reasonable people, but I can assure you research has not been done and neither has the impact on the social structures of the rhinos been researched. For many years Kruger has continued to sell rhinos by means of tender or auction and so has Kwa Zulu Natal. However under the current situation where rhinos are now specifically targeted by poachers in South Africa and while the Vietnamese are also cashing in to hunt rhinos for one purpose only and that is to get their horns, the Kruger needs to ensure that should it be necessary to sell Kruger rhinos the rhinos do not find themselves as a put-and-take animal to die in pain on a piece of land far away from where they have been born and where South Africans undertook to ensure their protection and welfare.

I have been going to Kruger for the past 30 years - since I was 5. We went hiking in the south of Kruger last week, and saw rhino upon rhino upon rhino. The reality is the much-earlier relocation of rhinos back into Kruger is yielding positive results, to the extent that there is now an over-supply of rhinos in many parts of the Kruger. What do the activists suggest as an alternative? The over-supply needs to be addressed in some or other manner - would they prefer it if the rhinos are shot, rather than sold? Kruger is not a commercial enterprise - and selling surplus rhinos does not make them one. Rather support them, give advice to new owners on transportation, and leave the poor guys at Kruger alone!

I am reading this debate with much fascination and then again not surprised. Bunny Huggers ? Animal Greenies? The insults reign on, however, have you ever questioned why we are such Bunny Huggers? Perhaps we have witnessed the truth about the ethical treatment of our animals around the world and let me tell you, it is not pretty. Before you go around slamming us, please go and do your research and please do view real undercover footage of how we as humans treat our animals. Someone mentioned the seals: Imagine having your skin ripped off you while you are still alive? That nice toothpaste you use every morning - view the footage on the torture that animals are put through to test that nice toothpaste that you use every morning. Do you really think that animals that go to slaughter houses are calmly put to sleep before they are slaughtered? They are still alive ! I dare you to go and research real footage on how humans torture our animals and let me gurantee you, you will never look at a steak or your toothpaste again in the same way. I DARE YOU! So yes we are proud "Bunny Huggers" and speak for those that cant. As for humans and careing for each other - they waige war on each other for money and greed knowing full and well what they are doing, why should I be concerned about humans destroying their own futures? And yes there will be come backs on this page about "Bunny Huggers are idiots" etc, however like I said, please question why people like us are so passionate. Because we dared to look further and shock horror was the outcome. I also warn you, its not for sensitive viwers !

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