Wounded Warrior Project Auctions Off Canned Hunt of Endangered Antelope; Combat Veteran Says Stop Promoting Pointless Violence
For Immediate Release:
October 23, 2024
Contact:
Nicole Perriera 202-483-7382
Following reports that the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity based in Jacksonville, auctioned off a canned hunt of an endangered scimitar-horned oryx at a fundraiser, PETA supporter and former 173rd Airborne Medic Bill Muir sent a letter today to the organization’s CEO, Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, urging him not to associate the group, which provides so many services for veterans, with such pointless violence. Muir also encouraged the Wounded Warrior Project to consider that the military’s responsibility is to protect life—not destroy it—and notes that in canned hunts, people pay to kill animals who are confined on private, fenced property and unable to escape.
“Cornering and gunning down a terrified animal—especially one who has no chance of escaping—is dishonorable and cruel, and no one should understand that better than veterans who have seen combat,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges the Wounded Warrior Project to stop promoting such gratuitous violence and stick to fundraisers that don’t involve killing animals.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
Muir’s letter to Piatt follows.
October 23, 2024
Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, CEO
Wounded Warrior Project
Dear Lt. Gen. Piatt:
As a proud veteran, I’d like to thank you for the programs and services you provide to those who have sacrificed so much for our country. I recently learned, however, of a Wounded Warrior donor event in which the canned hunt of a scimitar-horned oryx was auctioned off. During my time as a combat medic, I witnessed painful injuries and agonizing deaths, and I’m disappointed that your fine organization would promote such pointless, unnecessary violence. I implore you to create a policy that would prevent something like this from being done again.
In canned hunts, defenseless animals are typically held in fenced enclosures, where they have no chance of escaping, fighting back, or surviving. And because the winner of the auction most likely wants to hunt for a “trophy” to hang on a wall, the shooter will attempt to avoid aiming at the oryx’s head. There’s no telling where in her body the oryx will actually be shot, but a bullet through the lungs that will drown the animal in her own blood is generally the aim. A violent death for a sensitive living being is the end goal of every canned hunt.
Scimitar-horned oryx—like humans—feel pain and fear and don’t want to die. Our responsibility is to protect life—not destroy it. To raise money for our soldiers by hunting down and killing a helpless animal just feels wrong.
Please consider eliminating any association with hunting, and may the Wounded Warrior Project continue to empower injured veterans and their families. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Bill Muir
(Former) 173rd Airborne Medic
Proud VA RN
