Clayton Stoner’s Bear Killing Prompts PETA to Call for Suspension

PETA Calls on Anaheim Ducks to Bench Stoner for the Season and Make Him Take Empathy Course

For Immediate Release:
October 15, 2015

Contact:
Catie Cryar 202-483-7382

While Anaheim Ducks defenseman Clayton Stoner faces five charges under Canada’s Wildlife Act for allegedly lying to officials in order to obtain the hunting license he used to kill and decapitate a beloved grizzly bear named Cheeky, the Ducks have yet to take any disciplinary action. That’s why today, PETA sent the team’s vice president and general manager a letter calling for Stoner to be suspended for the rest of the season and required to take the very same empathy course that Michael Vick took after his fall from glory for dogfighting.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”— asks that Stoner be required to complete PETA’s eight-hour empathy training course, which teaches positive guidelines for how to behave toward others of all kinds, including those who happen not to have been born human.

“As the death of Cecil the lion showed, kind people are appalled that someone would think nothing of blowing away a beautiful wild animal and hacking off his head to keep as a trophy” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is calling on the Anaheim Ducks to suspend Clayton Stoner, send him to empathy school, and show that breaking the law and abusing animals will not be tolerated in the NHL.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Anaheim Ducks Executive Vice President and General Manager Bob Murray follows.

October 15, 2015

Bob Murray
Executive Vice President and General Manager
Anaheim Ducks

Dear Mr. Murray,

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 3 million members and supporters, some of whom are avid hockey fans, to request that you take immediate action to suspend Clayton Stoner for the remainder of the season in response to his lying to government authorities in order to obtain a hunting permit and for his decapitation of Cheeky, the beloved grizzly bear in British Columbia.

The vast majority of NHL fans are appalled by the actions of players who abuse others, and they want their teams to take decisive action to keep athletes who bend or break the law and/or are cruel to women, children, animals, or anyone else off the rink. Mr. Stoner has shown himself to be a bad role model and a man who lacks empathy and compassion. By suspending him, you’d send the clear message that bullying and abusing any individual is not tolerated by your organization.

We also suggest that you require Mr. Stoner to take an empathy training class, which would provide him with positive guidelines for how to behave toward others. The course we arranged for dogfighter Michael Vick is an eight-hour one and includes reviewing studies showing that animals are capable of a wide range of complex behavior and emotions. It gives examples of the fact that people who commit acts of violence against animals often move on to violence against human beings. Although most of us learn in kindergarten that you should do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you and that all animals are thinking, feeling beings, there is no doubt that Stoner needs to hear this again.

Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Daphna Nachminovitch
Senior Vice President
Cruelty Investigations Department