Britons Call for Hunting Ban; Americans and Canadians Reject It
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Angus Reid, Humane Research Council (HRC)
January 2011

According to the results of a 2010 Angus Reid poll, people in Britain are more alarmed about animal cruelty than those in the United States and Canada. Specific findings with respect to animals used for fur, hunting, food, and entertainment are included in this report.

Abstract

By country, respondents expressing agreement with what practices amount to cruelty by country include:

"There is nothing wrong with humans using animals for food, clothing, entertainment, and research, as long as unnecessary pain and suffering are minimized." (CAN 66%, BRI 63%, USA 62%) Killing animals for their fur amounts to cruelty to animals. (BRI 79%, USA 64%, CAN 55%) Dog fighting and cockfighting are cruel practices. (BRI 96%, CAN 94%, USA 91%) Eating animals amounts to cruelty. (USA 16%, BRI 14%, CAN 12%) Using animals for entertainment is a cruel practice. (BRI 35%, CAN 29%, USA 25%)

When asked about the protection of specific animals, Canadians said their government was doing “too little” to protect wild animals (37%), animals bred or raised for their fur (35%), and laboratory animals (34%). In the United States, 53% said government was doing "too little" to protect animals bred or raised for their fur.

With respect to hunting, two-thirds of all Britons would ban all types of hunting, compared to 35% of Canadians and 25% of Americans. In addition 71% of Britons would call for a ban on fur farming, compared to half of Americans and 47% of Canadians.

Early in 2010, a British resident, Mary Bale was caught on a closed circuit camera petting a cat before picking it up and putting it in a closed garbage can. After seeing the video footage, the majority of respondents (BRI 87%, CAN 86%, USA 77%) thought her behavior was cruel. Most (BRI 57%%, CAN 56%, USA 52%) thought that a fine would be an adequate punishment while fewer (BRI 29%, CAN 29%, USA 28%) thought that prison time would be adequate.

Read the entire article/PDF.

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