UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Guidance Spurs PETA’s Call for Hunting Ban for Minors
Following the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s new guidance – which reminds governments that have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of their responsibility to protect of children from “all forms of physical and psychological violence and from exposure to violence, such as domestic violence or violence inflicted on animals” – PETA has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, asking the government to ban minors from engaging in hunting activities.
Australia has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at a federal level, so it is a federal responsibility to ensure the nation fulfils its obligations under the convention to protect children. Watching wildlife being terrorised, gunned down, or otherwise slaughtered is inarguably traumatic and can be psychologically scarring for young people, most of whom have a natural empathy for animals.
The Victorian state government is currently considering banning duck hunting following a recommendation by a parliamentary committee. There, children as young as 12 are allowed to shoot and kill waterfowl, and due to shooter inexperience and inaccuracy, an estimated one in four birds shot during duck-hunting season are left to suffer, sometimes not succumbing to their injuries until days later.
The ducks, pigs, geese, deer, and other animals whose lives are taken “for sport” have the same capacity to suffer and feel pain as the dogs and cats we share our homes with, yet in some cases, Australian children as young as 11 are allowed to shoot and kill animals. Witnessing such violence can have a profoundly negative impact on a child’s mental wellbeing. This is especially concerning when you consider that sociological studies have determined that violent and aggressive criminals invariably started out when young by abusing animals.
Help stop the bloodshed and protect children by refusing to go hunting and by sharing this page and informing others about hunting.
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