taxidermy prog last night

[sweetmonkey]

did anyone see this on bbc2 last night, i was by it

they showed poor animals being killed and then sliced open when they were still alive

it was disgusting and they killed a monkey which they made a mess of so tied some wire around its neck and dragged it along the back of the truck as bait to get other animals out

im appalled that they were able to make this progrmamme let alone show it,

i will be writing to bbc this afternoon as this sort of thing is just not necessary. it has no benefit

just felt very by it

[Toothache]

OMG!


Why were they cutting the animals open when they were still alive???

I actually thought the programme was going to be about sad old ladies having their beloved "tiddles" stuffed and sat beside her on the sofa!

[sweetkitty]

Felt the same way SM, needlessly killing animals to stuff them is shocking IMO. OK if they had died of old age.

Hated the man who went to South Africa to shoot a leopard then he got peeved off as he only got a lioness the first time, but then he got his leopard and was wearing one of it's claws round his neck. It was a beautiful animal and would have been more beautiful alive. I hope someone shoots him, skins him and sticks him on a wall!

[sweetkitty]

toothache it showed you them shooting deers left, right and centre and they weren't quite dead and cutting their throats to use as bait to try and attract leopards.

At the world championships thought it was very sad that the winner was a fawn like bambi shooting a young animal to stuff.

[sweetmonkey]

it was just horrible. i only watched a bit and it made me feel sick

the poor deer that they killed was still blinking and making noises and then they had their throats slit

they killed a lion as well i think and the bloke was having pics taken with it and holding its mouth open then they showed him skinning it

im going to get as many people to complain as i can because there is just no need for things like this

[LilacLotus]

god, i'm glad i didn't watch it!

[NomDePlume]

DH watched it, it was revolting.

I was sooooooo bloody furious when that redneck asehole was encouraging his 9* year old daughter to a) shoot the deer, b) sit on the dead deer to be photographed with her 'quarry' and then c) watch her father skin and gut the poor beast in the woods. She held the heart and said.... 'Cool, it's still warm' .

I'm confused by the shooting of leopards etc, surely they are a protected species ? How did that guy get the permissions to shoot these animals for anything other than the animal's own welfare ?

[tarantula]

I sat there gobsmacked by this. A very strange program esp the swiss guy and the 9 year old girl too...... that was really strange. Im all for kids experiencing reality but that was way OTT.

The guy who went to SA to get the leopard was just sick and disgusting.

TBH couldnt see the point of the program but was glad that the Swiss guy felt happier at the end.

[sweetmonkey]

ive just sent an email to the bbc complaining. there was no point to the programme as you said tarantula.

it was sick and disgusting and very upsetting

[Gizmo]

Well, I'm going to get myself into hot water here, but I thought it was a fantastic bit of film making.

Not because I agree with taxidermy or big game shooting (Roy in particular - leopard shooting guy - was an obvious a**ehole) but because it took a community of people utterly absorbed in a pointless activity and threw brilliant light on their characters. It was a bit like Spellbound in that respect.

While it obviously upset you, Sweetmonkey, consider the role of the BBC: one of their duties is to report and show what happens in the world. What they showed is the sort of deaths that happen to animals all the time - both in abbatoirs and when they are hunted by their natural predators. They show images of famine, war and disaster which are equally distressing and involve innocent humans: do you write to complain about those? I bet, instead, as a compassionate person, your first thought is what you can do to help in those situations.

So perhaps if it upset you, the film was doing its job in some way?

[QueenOfQuotes]

My best friend at school did taxidermy from the age of about 8 years old

Her dad owned a gun and shot animals too......



But he was a gamekeeper up in Scotland, and at the time one of Scotlands best known 'shooting' names. They used to shoot crows - as they pecked out lambs eyes, and deers - as parts of the official culling up there. All the animals she stuff were already dead - and she's never have dreamt of going out to shoot something just to stuff it

[sweetmonkey]

no i dont write to complain but i just didnt feel the need to show such a horrible programme

i understand about the war and famine things and to an extent people can do things to help them but the animals just got to me thats all seeing the way they were shot and the fact they were still alive is what i found distressing

[Gizmo]

Well, sorry it upset you, these things are sad, aren't they ?

I thought Matthias (the Swiss guy) was quite touching, though. He obviously wasn't really built for the international stardom that winning the World Taxidermy Championships brings, and the bit at the end where they put his opinions up against a**ehole Roy's actions was just so powerful.

[sweetmonkey]

gizmo i know why i dont usually watch bbc2 now.

will just give it a miss on the control in future

[Carmenere]

I so agree with Gizmo, I thought that this was a truely great documentary, beautifully made and thought provoking. It highlighted perfectly the callous, shallow, uselessness of that idiot Roy killing magnificent wild animals, it was difficult to watch but I feel it is important to realise that these idiots are out there.

As far as the 9 year old girl goes, I have to say that unless you are a strict vegetarian I don't think that you can object to that father teaching his child how to shoot a deer. He stated that they had not bought meat in 10 years and that they ate everything that they shot. To me that is not senseless killing of animals but an honest relationship with nature. If he instills in her a compassion for animals too he will have done a great job as a parent imho.

Yes it was a gory and graphic film but it was also a facinating look at human nature and I really enjoyed it.

[mawbroon]

I only saw a little bit of this programme, mostly the bit with the guy and his daughter shooting the deer. Like the previous poster, I would suggest that if you eat meat (which I do), you should have a very clear understanding of where it comes from and to be squeamish about it is very hypocritical. My Dad took us fishing as kids and I had no qualms about gutting, cooking and eating the fish that I had caught.

However, I disagree strongly with killing animals just for the sake of it.

I do wish that I had seen the whole programme though.

[chloe55]

I agree that providing the animals hunted are also used for food then it is somewhat acceptable (still weird in my opinion), and the guys who stuffed the birds said they only used already dead ones and did not kill them.

I did, however, think that the 9yr old girl was disturbed. She delighted in watching the blood and guts fall out of that dear and then proceeded to stick her fingers in the heart chambers. It is quite sad that she believes God put those creatures on earth for her to shoot. I'm not religious but surely if there is a God then every animal has a purpose and I'm guessing taxidermy isn't one of them!

[spacedonkey]

I thought this documentary was one of the best things I've seen on TV for a long time. The footage of Roy, the Texan leopard hunter, in South Africa was truly horrifying. I don't agree that it was gratuitous at all.

A fantastic film that started out as a light hearted look at a world of eccentrics, then gradually darkened into something altogether more sinister.

[juice]

i didnt see it, so cant really comment on the programme.

my hubby is a gamekeeper and shoots deer for the culling season.

i take my 1 year old dd along to see the animals getting skinned and beheaded etc. and if she wants to go out with her dad when she older to see them getting shot and may be have a shot of a gun i will let her. i dont have aproblem with it as long as its done in a responsible manner and she knows all the dangers.

[chloe55]

Does your 1yr old squeal with delight at seeing these dead animals skinned because the 9yr old on the program certainly did. I would personally be against my family shooting animals but everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect that.

Out of interest (don't know much about the subject) but does your DH shoot the deer to keep the population down or is it for pleasure?

[juice]

chloe, it is to keep the numbers down and also for pleasure, as it fills my freezer and it tastes lovely. venison is a very healthy red meat.

[chloe55]

LOL Juice - as said previously, no objections if you are eating the stuff !