Fundamental Right Denied
It’s the right to eat, as humans have since the dawn of time. Massachusetts man arrested for catching, killing his dinner with his bare hands. Lowell Sun:
LOWELL — Police say a Lowell man is facing charges after admitting to police that he chased and caught a squirrel in the backyard of his Walker Street home, bashed it to death against a tree, and then began cooking it with a torch, police said.
Police were called to 416 Walker St., yesterday at 3:36 p.m., after someone called police and reported that a man was killing a squirrel with a blowtorch, police said.
Officers said they arrived and found Odum Chaloeurn, 48, who lives in the home, in his backyard, with a dead squirrel in a makeshift fireplace.
Chaloeurn told police the caller was wrong.
He said he had chased and caught the squirrel himself, then swung it by its tail, smashing it against a tree until it was dead, police said.
He then began cooking the squirrel with a blowtorch, because he planned to eat it, police said.
Chaloeurn was charged with animal cruelty, and was expected to be released on bail last night.
It’s not like squirrels are out of season,* though it’s beyond me why it isn’t open season on squirrels year-round. I’m pretty impressed this guy was able to chase down a squirrel. It’s a sad state of affairs when you can’t catch and kill your dinner with your own two hands, and I’m sure Chaloeurn, whose name appears to be Cambodian, is mystified.
Sorry, pal. Americans are crazy.
There’s the blowtorch thing, but it seems to be pretty well established that, whatever the busybody thought, he dispatched the squirrel with a traditional sharp whack against the tree. Whether and how you choose to cook your food is your own business.
McCain-Palin camp take note. McCain’s got Joe the Plumber. Palin may want to champion the cause of Chaloeurn the Hunter, victimized in this only-in-Massachusetts arrest. For wanting to eat.
* CORRECTION: Turns out Lowell is in Wildlife Management Zone 10, where squirrel season doesn’t start until Saturday. No report as yet that Chaloeurn has been cited for illegal hunting. I’d argue that anything you catch and kill barehanded for purposes of sustenance should require no permit and always be in season. Up to and including whales.
Topics: food
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 4:18 pm on Thursday, October 16, 2008
4 Responses to “Fundamental Right Denied”
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October 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
His real crime was in not spreading the wealth around. That squirrel could have fed 2, maybe 3 people, easy.
October 16th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Bash a squirrel to death and blowtorch it and a man eats for a day.
Teach that man to bash and blowtorch a squirrel, and he eats for life.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
The slippery slope towards Switzerland where it is now illegal to besmirch the dignity of a plant.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Next thing you know, people will be prosecuted for using rat traps, even if they don’t eat what they catch.