Letter: Wildlife center is not an animal refuge

The recent story in the sports section about the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, in which hunting is permitted in a so-called “refuge,” is repugnant.

At the least, it certainly calls for a name change because "refuge," is certainly not what it is for the wildlife there. The definition of refuge is "a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble," which clearly the refuge is not if hunting is allowed or increased. It is a betrayal in order for the "Hook and Bullet Club" to exercise their blood lust, trophy hunting and target practice.

The Savannah National Wildlife Refuge operates under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, an agency of the federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior. Their mandate is to benefit the American people by conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats — not slaughter them.

Also, this means that as a federal agency, my money is being used to allow the killing of wildlife. I do not want the wildlife slaughtered in an inappropriately named refuge! It is my understanding that in national parks, people take precedence. In a national wildlife refuge, the animals take precedence. This does not seem to be the case, given the comments of the manager in the article.

This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Letter: Wildlife center is not an animal refuge."