Taking joy in death is retrograde

IT’S called ‘game’ because that is supposed to be the method used to kill it — a game of chase for us powerful humans exerting our authority over defenceless animals.

But I don’t see the game element of it at all — it thoroughly disgusts me that we should choose to extinguish the life of a creature unable to fight against our might, and tools, simply to satisfy our need to feed.

We are not cavemen, we don’t have to rely on flesh any longer in order to sate our appetites, so why are we still killing? Is it because our ancestors were born with a very strong need to hunt and kill in order to provide for their families? It’s a savage urge that some men and, naturally, fewer women, are intent on carrying on, long after it has outlived its use. I see no difference between game hunting and hare coursing, badger-baiting or cock-fighting. There is something so vile, so retrograde, so basic, about men gathering to take joy from the death of another creature.