Re: "Debating the ethics of hunting," letter to the editor, Wednesday, Jan. 9.

Mr. Grindley-Ferris looks at his non-caring, very cruel world with naiveté and rose-coloured glasses. Has he ever visited a feed lot where cattle are prepared for the slaughter house? Has he ever seen and smelt the terror of the animals awaiting their end in the abattoir?

Has he examined the diet and medication given to his purpose-bred steers to produce the highest financial return for the corporate farmer?

It is at best nauseating and decidedly uncaring and cruel. Meat on the store counter is not manufactured in a factory. It is produced by commercial interests at that cheapest price that the consumer strives for.

Has he ever read the history of wildlife numbers in North America over the last two centuries? At the start of the 20th century most game animals had been slaughtered to near extinction by commercial interests.

What has Mr. Grindley-Ferris ever contributed to wildlife habitat? The hunters have restored the game and its environment to the point where more deer are killed on highways than by hunters. Ducks Unlimited has given tens of billions, yes billions, to restore habitat not only for game birds and animals but for all other forms of wildlife, from song birds and frogs to dragon flies.

They have healed the earth raped by the commercial farmers and industry to satisfy the likes of Mr. Grindley-Ferris.

Yes, I am a meat hunter as are the majority of hunters. My licences and presence in the country have put several thousand dollars into the economy. No, I did not fill all my rather expensive tags, just enough to stock my deep freeze.

Yes, each animal was taken with a single shot. Per kilogram that harvest cost many times what the polluted and poisoned equivalent would have cost in the butcher shop.

Mr. Grindley-Ferris' heart is surely good and kind.

Unfortunately he has not looked at the whole picture. May he continue seeing the occasional wild animal or game bird for the rest of his days. It will be a gift to him from all us hunters who love being in the bush with the animals.

But next time he swears at the polluting Canada geese that foul his lawn, that also is the hunting community's fault.

Wynne Rigal Edmonton