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HELP END BOW HUNTING IN 3 EASY STEPS

1.Head to the green box above

2.Enter your postcode

3.Submit the pre-written letter or write your own

 

Please tell your local MP that you support the SA government’s decision to ban bow-hunting.

The RSPCA strongly supports the South Australian government’s pre-election commitment to prohibit the use of bow and arrows on both public and private land. Bows are inaccurate, inhumane and cannot be justified as an acceptable method for killing animals when much more humane methods exist.

Arrows often wound (not kill) animals, leaving them to suffer a prolonged and painful death. Regardless of accuracy, when animals are struck with a bow, they typically remain conscious as they die from massive blood loss.[1]

By its nature, bow hunting is less accurate than shooting animals with a rifle. To hunt with a bow, the hunter must be no more than 20 metres from the animal. The arrow’s flight path to the animal’s chest must be unobscured by leaves/branches or the arrow may be deflected and hit another part of the body. Furthermore, due to death not being instant, injured animals often get away and escape into bushes and inaccessible areas. This means that hunters often fail to follow and kill injured animals, leaving them to suffer a slow and painful death.

An argument has been made that tightening permit conditions and introducing a bow hunting code can make bow hunting humane, however, no amount of extra regulation can make an inhumane weapon humane.

Please complete the form to let your MP know that you support the SA government’s decision to ban bow-hunting.

Thank you for helping us stand up for all animals.

The research speaks for itself showing that animals hit by arrows are approximately six times more likely to escape wounded and be left to die slowly, than animals shot by rifles. Hunter surveys found 12 to 48% of deer hit by arrows escaped injured, [2] significantly higher than the 5% of deer reported as escaping wounded after being shot by professional rifle shooters.

The science clearly shows that if an animal has to be killed, a single shot to the head by a competent (rifle) shooter is the most humane killing method for most species.[3] Sometimes animals considered pests or feral have to be killed, but they are as sentient as our cats and dogs and we owe them the most humane death possible. It is unethical to use an inhumane killing method when more humane killing method exists.

[1] – https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/why-do-some-recreational-hunters-use-a-bow-and-arrow-and-is-this-type-of-hunting-humane/

[2] – Gregory NG (2005). Bowhunting deer. Animal Welfare 14:111-116.

[3] – See for instance, https://pestsmart.org.au/?s=humaneness+matrix.

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