Speak Out Against Turtles Getting Hooked in British Columbia: Sample Letter
BACKGROUND
A youth fishing program intended to teach children to appreciate nature at Maguire Lake in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, is apparently backfiring. Reportedly, countless turtles have become tangled up in fishing line or have swallowed hooks! This can result in prolonged suffering and slow, agonizing deaths. Officials are considering extending the dock to persuade kids to fish offshore, but since the turtles don’t stay exclusively on the shoreline and are attracted to baited hooks, this expensive measure won’t solve the problem. Further, turtles are also reportedly being harassed by unsupervised children participating in this program.
Please politely urge officials to prohibit all fishing in Maguire Lake’s sensitive environment immediately. Tell them that kids can learn to respect the outdoors via wildlife watching, hiking, and community-based ecosystem restoration projects.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please note you will be requested to “reply/send” in order for your message to be accepted.
Email block
steve.maricle@gov.bc.ca
mbootsma@salmonarm.ca
dcannon@salmonarm.ca
celiason@salmonarm.ca
aharrison@salmonarm.ca
iidzan@salmonarm.ca
kjamieson@salmonarm.ca
Individual
Steve Maricle
Small Lakes Fisheries Biologist
Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
steve.maricle@gov.bc.ca
The Honourable Marty Bootsma
Mayor of Salmon Arm
mbootsma@salmonarm.ca
Please also e-mail the members of the Salmon Arm City Council: dcannon@salmonarm.ca, celiason@salmonarm.ca, aharrison@salmonarm.ca, iidzan@salmonarm.ca, and kjamieson@salmonarm.ca.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Minister Maricle, Honorable Bootsma, and City Councle Boardmembers,
It has come to my attention that you have assigned a course teaching youth how to appreciate nature by fishing, which, admittedly, confounds me: how does appreciating nature require killing it? Indeed, fishing in and of itself is an entirely cruel endeavor: fish feel pain and experience it excruciatingly when caught on hooks and then gutted. The point of this message is to request this program discontinued considering the high numbers of turtle who have also been hooked, killed, and even allegedly mocked by children partaking in the activity.
Please allow me to elaborate. Turtles are complex animals who experience suffering and joy, and who also have the capacity to nurture complex relationships and display grief upon separation. Despite these human-like conditions, they are still relentlessly and callously killed.
While many understand the importance of teaching nature to appreciate it, doing so by killing lacks legitimacy with relation to such a critical area of learning. Please protect the turtles, who, when caught, thrash and struggle frantic and futilely in an effort to escape.
Please take this opportunity to teach appropriate child-development courses by using non-lethalalternatives that will not be abused and killed for classroom folly. Millions of students benefit from a curriculum that does not include animal cruelty, such as learning to respect the outdoors via wildlife watching, hiking, and community-based ecosystem restoration projects, and I hope you will demonstrate a commitment to protect, rather than harm, animals
I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
NAME
SEE MORE
to appreciate nature
by enjoying killing
a concept i find
beyond chilling
and now turtles
collateral damage
of your :”sport”
of the water
it is not respect
for nature
to indulge in slaughter
please rethink the lessons
that you teach
practicing kindness
has a much further reach
Karen Lyons Kalmenson
Our Compass 
to appreciate nature
by enjoying killing
a concept i find
beyond chilling
and now turtles
collateral damage
of your :”sport”
of the water
it is not respect
for nature
to indulge in slaughter
please rethink the lessons
that you teach
practicing kindness
has a much further reach
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