Gun Dogs Hunters are Animal Lovers too!

I know it sounds contradictory, but hunters are animal lovers, and the bonds they form with their gun dogs are as strong as the bonds formed between the blind and their guide dogs.

Hunting Dogs (Photo credit: RenoTahoe)

Now, I will admit that I don’t hunt. I just couldn’t shoot—and then gut—a wild animal. But, unless you are a vegan, you cannot have moral objections to hunting. The animals hunted are subject to over-population, and consequent starvation, were it not for the hunter and their gun dogs. And the hunted animals shot die instantly in the wild, as opposed to domesticated animals, which must endure hours of confusion and panic as they are slowly herded through the slaughterhouse, echoing with cries of fear.
So if you buy your meat in the grocery store, nicely cut and wrapped up in cellophane, you cannot look down at the hunter; you are simply delegating the task to others, who make use of a much crueler process.
As I say hunters are animal lovers.

• They spend countless hours training their bird dogs, for example, so that the silent commands, through hand signals, are almost telepathic.
• The gun dogs are trained to not only flush the quarry—but to then go out and retrieve the killed bird.
• How do you think the Golden Retriever got its name?
• These hunter's gun dogs are as intelligent, and as eager to serve, as guide dogs for the blind—and many breeds are chosen for either function.
• And the bonds formed between the hunter and his gun dog are eternal.
• Many a “macho” hunter has shed tears at the passing of his beloved gun dog, which has served him faithfully in the fields for years.

So, if you are a pet lover, remember that the hunter is one, too.
-Dan Carrison, Author - Bill at Rainbow Bridge