Ban animal killing contests

[Catherine]

There are some animal killing contests in Canada. We don't have the extreme number of contests that the USA has, but we also have a much smaller population. 

I couldn't find any mention of contests anywhere else in the world. Other countries have other cruelties, like bull fighting or the birds that are released for shooting in England. Each of these things is unpleasant in its own way, but the killing contests are particularly nasty. That article you posted is brutal. I did not know about the ray killing contest. They are deliberately killing pregnant rays. They target them during breeding season. I can't imagine even knowing someone who would take part in something like that. They must have a very twisted mind.

Giving a gun as a prize seems like a very dangerous idea. Giving a semi automatic weapon should be stopped as a public safety issue. Years ago there was a bank that was giving out  guns if you opened a new account. I saw it in a documentary about school shootings twenty years ago. Things are so much worse now.

Many of the species targeted in these contests are endangered. They are also species that are beneficial to the environment. So the contests encourage some truly sick behavior and they put the environment at risk of collapse. 
Ecosystems without predators do poorly.