I don’t understand what the Minnesota dentist, Walter James Palmer, gained from killing, beheading and skinning Cecil the lion. What a useless investment of $50,000 (that’s allegedly about how much this guy paid to kill Cecil). 

CNN reported that the dentist and his guides—a professional hunter and a land owner, both residents of Zimbabwe— lured Cecil out of the Hwange National Park with a dead animal on top of a vehicle to then shoot him on private land. First, Palmer shot Cecil with a crossbow and 40 hours later shot him with a gun.

(Palmer says he was relying on the guides to ensure a “legal kill.” Here’s a good recap of it all by CNN.)

Palmer’s two guides were recently released from jail on a $1,000 bond each, and could reportedly face 10 years in prison. According to CNN, Zimbabwe officials want to speak with Palmer, and he has said that he’ll cooperate with any investigation. “Although, he said in his statement that he had yet to be contacted by officials in the U.S. or Zimbabwe,” the write up says.

Well, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals thinks extradition and execution are viable punishment options.

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk issued this statement:

Hunting is a coward’s pastime. If, as has been reported, this dentist and his guides lured Cecil out of the park with food so as to shoot him on private property, because shooting him in the park would have been illegal, he needs to be extradited, charged, and, preferably, hanged.

To get a thrill at the cost of a life, this man gunned down a beloved lion, Cecil with a high-powered weapon. All wild animals are beloved by their own mates and infants, but to hunters like this overblown, over-privileged little man, who lack empathy, understanding, and respect for living creatures, they are merely targets to kill, decapitate, and hang up on a wall as a trophy. The photograph of this dentist, smiling over the corpse of another animal, who, like Cecil, wanted only to be left in peace, will disgust every caring soul in the world.

Yes, this guy is a dick and a reminder of greedy, ignorant tourists who go to foreign countries expecting to eff things up, disrespect what’s sacred, and expect to pay their way out of any trouble. But PETA just took this conversation into the depths of the dark side (and reaffirmed PETA critics on the thought that they are a bunch of nut jobs) suggesting to hang the dude. I think extradition (after all, he killed an animal that was living in sanctuary) and a nice stay in a Zimbabwe prison should teach Palmer a lesson or two. Unfortunately, it’d be unsurprising to hear that, aside from public shame, he won’t suffer any other repercussions.

This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

29 replies on “Yes, The Dentist Who Killed Cecil the Lion is an Asshole but PETA is Going Too Far With This ‘Execute Him’ Thing”

  2. ” a reminder of greedy, ignorant tourists who go to foreign countries expecting to eff things up, disrespect what’s sacred, and expect to pay their way out of any trouble.”

    So the only difference between your example and illegals is that they have no way to pay for the damage they do.

    So we’re back to hate somebody with enough money to do it?

  3. As horrific as this is, my question is what is this sad story distracting us from that truly has an influence on our lives?

  5. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: Chemtrails or something?
    country at fault: No, you are wrong. Zimbabwe did NOT allow it, otherwise the “guide” and the property owner would not have been arrested. Mr. Dentist is surely to blame, because HE is the one that instigated this hole thing by is desire to kill a lion. And I don’t buy for one second his claim that he didn’t know this lion was the one he was after.

    And yes: PETA went too far. They always go too far.

  6. The other difference between the illegal immigrant and this guy is that this guy is white. The illegal is a “golden person” who should be afforded all the opportunities the American taxpayer has to offer and a “Go, Collect $200” pass for all criminal actions.

    And we know that in the minds of liberals, if you’re white or an unborn child, your life doesn’t matter.

  7. To Country at Fault: So if a parent prostitutes his or her 5-yr-old daughter, the person who bought sex has no responsibility? It’s only the person that allowed it who’s at fault? I don’t think so. (Same difference).

  9. outrage is OUTRAGE….and this cruel act deserves that emotion. Read about the death of this lion and how long it suffered. Devil worship sacrifice is comparable! It’s a matter of time till Killers like this start hunting humans!

  10. PETA is correct: extradition and execution, or at least castration. It would be wonderful if Minnesota could revoke this damned dentist’s license. He was fined before for illegally killing a black bear in Wisconsin in an area not open to his hunting. The dentist tries to deflect culpability to the people he paid $50,000+ to without any semblance of veracity.

    Hunting that requires $50,000 for one hunter to kill one animal like this African lion demonstrates another aspect of the oligarchy that rules, not just the United States, but most countries.

  13. Planned Parenthood aborts 269000 children and you fools get all high and mighty over a lion. Where is your conscience?

  14. The #1 threat to wildlife is not hunters but habitat destruction to make room for housing and agriculture. The PETA spokesman should execute himself immediately since his continuing existence is causing the death of hundreds of animals daily.
    The hunter deserves all the scorn he gets. Baiting an animal and then shooting it (apparently twice?) is not hunting, it’s cruel.

  15. Wow – any chance to bring up your hatred for illegal immigrants, relevant or not, huh? I think we’re doing a fine job of messing our own country up without any outside help.

  16. The author’s language is disapointing and does nothing to enhance society. The story is sad. Don’t make it worse.

  17. Imagine the outrage if a trophy hunter from Dubai came to the US and shot Smokey the Bear. If PETA’s logic were followed, the culprit would be extradited, tried and in relatively short time be given a lethal injection. Thankfully, few animal rights activists follow the PETA logic stream.

    This incident is awful and sheds a light on trophy hunters who spend enormous amounts of money to have others do the heavy lifting so they can deliver what is essentially a coupe de grace. Not hunting, not sport. The dentist needs to be asked, “and how did Cecil taste after he was beheaded and barbecued?”

  18. ‘. . . aside from public shame . . .’? People are howling for his head, he’s being harassed by way of every medium available to haters, his business is under siege, and someone published his address. He has been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion and found guilty with no opportunity to confront his accusers. Lynch mob mentality in action. People are so happy to find a publicly sanctioned target of hate, that they can barely contain themselves. I don’t condone his actions, but the flood of hatred being spewed in the name of loving animals is astounding and absurd, not to mention a little frightening. They are enjoying the hunting and killing of this man’s peace of mind and reputation as much as he enjoyed his African safari.

  20. Dave Y – it’s funny that you assume everyone expressing outrage over the killing of Cecil is a liberal. In fact, I bet many are self-proclaimed conservatives who are pro-gun and pro-hunting. Is the outrage out of hand? Absolutely.

    I wouldn’t equate what happened to Cecil the lion with villagers being killed. It’s easier to focus on one lion wrongfully killed than the overwhelming senseless starvation and death of thousands worldwide; think of what’s happening every day in Syria, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and so on. Hell we have people in our own country who can’t afford to eat.

    If Palmer committed a crime he should be tried by the justice system, not the public. And yes, there are much bigger fish to fry. Many people, as well as the very planet we live on, are in trouble. But let’s not pretend everything is the fault of liberals, whatever that means these days.

  21. I would call them liberal based on the reaction this gets from people while I have seen less outrage over the Planned Parenthood selling of fetal tissues.

    Maybe the lion hunter should have told the world they donated the tissue to research. Would that make them happy?

    This country has been going backwards for the last 25 years. I don’t believe the universities are graduating a lot of conservative activists.

  22. I see the propaganda against Planned Parenthood has been swallowed with glee by those who refuse to think for themselves.

    Planned Parenthood doesn’t abort children, they abort fetuses. It isn’t a child until after it is born, which is the same time the “right to life” people stop caring what happens to it and it’s mother.

  23. Come on Idontknow, let’s analyze your thoughts:

    prop·a·gan·da
    ˌpräpəˈɡandə/
    noun
    noun: propaganda; noun: Propaganda

    1.
    derogatory
    information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

    Your so called propoganda is video/audio of reps for PP on tape. they claim they were edited, but the full unedited tapes have been posted so they stopped using that excuse Monday.

    So the new mantra is “it’s not a child until after it’s born.” Why does Obamacare cover “open fetal surgery, or LIFE saving surgery in the womb?

    Your opinion on who starts and stops caring for a child has no bearing on the right to kill it.

    Do you object to others showing concern for a person’s eternal salvation?

    e·ter·nal
    əˈtərn(ə)l/
    adjective
    adjective: eternal

    lasting or existing forever; without end or beginning

  24. I’ve noticed that “asshole” has become an acceptable adjective with the new editor and staff (along with other scatological references). Is it now OK to refer to folks like the undocumented felonious hit and run driver seeking sanctuary, who the editor believed was worthy of our sympathy, as an asshole?

    I thought not.

  25. Good point Rick. I do not like it either. It cheapens society as a whole and we need to pressure them to stop it.

    I remember when the commenters needed to be reminded of the rules regarding foul language. How times have changed.

  26. Dave Y, so you basically call a whole sum of people (insert term) because they share outrage of varying degree over an issue? Did you take a poll of outraged people and found they overwhelmingly identify as liberal? It sounds like you use liberal as a blanket term for people or groups who disagree with you. If the two party system has succeeded in one thing, it’s separating people over generic terms like liberal/conservative and democrat/republican. These days arguing over that seems as baseless as saying my sports team is better than yours.
    I won’t disagree with the decline and dumbing down of society in general. But if you want to blame it all on liberals, or some other generic term, I think that’s irresponsible and does nothing to bring us out of this rut. If we want to progress we’ll have to do it as a people and drop the BS, not bicker across some arbitrary aisle like fussy kids.

  27. Please, this is being taken too literal just to vilify PETA now. Granted, they probably don’t help their position by making statements that choose emotion over a more tactful response but…this entire debacle is entirely their premise. It is not surprising that they would come out strongly and quite honestly, something somewhat severe should be done now because of the attention that this story has received if we are to feel as though it has been treated with any respect at all. It is wrong. Very wrong. It isn’t ‘new’, but now that he’s become the poster boy, then he should be handed down a sentencing that makes that poster as well.
    As an individual he means nothing to me. And he is not sorry at all. He has killed every beautiful creature on earth and would continue to do so, if this had not been brought to light. In fact, that is the only reason that he is sorry – his getting caught, and even still, I very much doubt that it will keep him from doing things like this in the future, especially if a sentencing is not severe. Not to mention, that he is exactly the type of person to have lawyer on-hand to take up his amendment rights to hunt even after this entire thing plays out, just to rub it in the faces of anyone who tried to oppress him.
    The whole thing is despicable, but it definitely needs to be handled to a satisfactory degree.

  28. It occurs to me that this dentist is trying really hard to compensate for a really minute or missing body parts.

  29. Planned parenthood kills maims and destroys life and keeps o doing it I love animals too but people more

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