Walter Palmer, left, poses behind a dead lion in 2008. (Trophy Hunt America)
Walter Palmer, the dentist from Minnesota who reportedly hunted and killed a beloved lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe, is under intense hatred from, well, pretty much everyone.
Among the most vitriolic responses to this news has been the one from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who said on Twitter that Palmer should be hanged for what he did:
(1/5): If, as reported, this dentist & guides lured #CecilTheLion out of the park with food so as to shoot him on private property…
(2/5): Because shooting #CecilTheLion in the park would have been illegal, he needs to be extradited, charged, &, preferably, hanged.
(3/5): Hunting is a coward’s pastime. To get a thrill at the cost of life this man gunned down loved #CecilTheLion w/ a high-powered weapon.
(4/5): All wild animals are beloved by their own, but to hunters like this overblown, over-privileged little man, they’re merely targets.
Palmer reportedly paid $50,000 for the opportunity to hunt Cecil, a 13-year-old beloved lion who had been collared and was part of a research project being conducted by Oxford University. According to the report, the lion was skinned and left headless.
In a statement, he said he “had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite,” and that he thought it was a legal hunt.
Nevertheless, the now-hated dentist has been receiving death threats from around the internet, and with an organization as big as PETA jumping in, it doesn’t appear the pressure is going to come off him anytime soon.
