I’m sure you’ve heard of the local dentist in Minnesota named Walter Palmer who is accused of illegally shooting a lion, named Cecil, in Zimbabwe in Africa. See the story in the Star Tribune:  http://www.startribune.com/  Here are the accusations:  Dr. Palmer and two others (not clear who did what exactly) lured a protected lion, Cecil, out of a game preserve by dragging a dead carcass behind a truck.  When they got him into a private area, Dr. Palmer shot him with a bow and arrow but didn’t kill him.  It took 40 hours before the three were able to find Cecil and kill him with a gun.  He was then beheaded and skinned.  The three tried to destroy the tracking collar from around Cecil’s neck but were unable to do so.

After working with criminals as both a prosecutor and defense lawyer for years, I see several similarities between Cecil, Dr. Palmer, and criminals.

1.  Disregard for the law.  Most criminals have an attitude that the law doesn’t apply to them.  It applies to everyone else but not to them.  Dr. Palmer was an experienced big game hunter, having killed dozens of animals all over the world.  He must have known the rules and requirements for the situations he hunted.  Wouldn’t the fact the three in Africa had to lure Cecil out of a protected area have alerted Dr. Palmer that something was not legal about the process?  Why didn’t he stop?

2.  A pattern of law breaking.  So many criminals always say, “but I just did it this one time.”  Actually, most judges and prosecutors feel that the accused probably committed more crimes, it’s just that he was caught only once!  Dr. Palmer has a history of breaking the law when it comes to hunting.  In Wisconsin, he was far outside the zone he was licensed to hunt bear when he killed a bear.  He dragged the bear back into the correct zone and tried to register it in that zone—until he was caught.  The killing of Cecil in Africa looks identical.

3.  Minimize responsibility.  It’s human nature to minimize culpability when caught.  We see that with Dr. Palmer also when he had a publicist say Dr. Palmer had followed all the licensing rules and thought he was doing something legal.  Except that Cecil had to be lured out of the protected area.  He was wearing a tracking collar—something a wild lion wouldn’t wear.  How could Dr. Palmer’s responsibility be minimized here?

I’m not opposed to big game hunting, although I don’t want to do it.  The game park officials in Africa have written that they award a limited number of licenses per year in order to maintain animal sustainability.  The huge fees they charge actually go to pay for the preserves, enforcement of laws, and the health of the remaining animals.

If nothing else, all hunters respect their prey and try their best to kill swiftly and cleanly to avoid unnecessary suffering.  In spite of being a crack shot, Dr. Palmer missed—and caused Cecil 40 hours of suffering.  Here’s the CNN video:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/28/africa/zimbabwe-lion-killed/?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion&iref=obnetwork