Mexico : World Traditional Animal killing festival Kots Kaal Pato inYucatán

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                                          Watch Video.Mexican Festival Of Death

Every year, without fail, the locals in the Yucatán city of Citilcum celebrate a tradition known as Kots Kaal Pato. Live animals are put in pinatas then are bashed to death, kicked, thrown..it's pretty crazy s**t.  http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6eb_1432907176  http://youtu.be/KeYWwPTJMeo

                                       

                  Warning:Very Graphic 
                               Some of the below images 
                           depict violence against animals.

This article originally appeared on VICE Mexico.

VISIT VICE http://www.vice.com/read/yucatan-animal-sacrifice-tradition-876

Every year, without fail, the locals in the Yucatán city of Citilcum,celebrate a tradition known as Kots Kaal Pato. Basically, it's a day when the whole town puts on their best clothes, gathers around a huge city center scaffolding and then proceed to kill a whole bunch of innocent animals, mostly for the lols.

Kots Kaal Pato isn't actually that different from the Mexican tradition of piñatas, only instead of filling colorful paper-mache figures with candy, people fill them them with live animals—or vermin, as they're called—that the town's children have rustled up. For the most part that means iguanas, but the game's most sought-after stuffing is an endangered marsupial called an opossum.

Then, just like with a regular piñata, people take turns at beating the holy crap out of the toy with sticks. Unfortunately, the animal that survive the initial shovel whacking don't tend to last much longer. If they somehow miraculously escape the festive deathtrap, the crowd will catch them and trample them to piece.

After they've exhausted their opossum supply, the people of Citilcum bring out a duck, the day's guest of honor. The bird is tied up and hung from a makeshift wooden structure so contestants can clamber over each other in an attempt to try and grab it. Whoever manages to catch it wins.

Obviously, the duck dies instantly when its neck is broken but it can take quite a while for the champion to tear the bird's head off - which is naturally what people are encouraged to do.

The audience gets completely splattered in blood as they cheer on this rather morbid spectacle.

They're not bothered, though. Shockingly, they seem to love it.

Given that it's such a big event for the town, it's a little strange that no one present was capable of explaining the origins of the tradition to me. Not even the village elders.

"We don't know where this tradition comes from. I was taught by my parents, and my parents from their parents and so on. It used to be done in a large kapok tree nearby, but in 2002—when Hurricane Isidore hit Yucatan—the tree fell," recounted Idelfonso Tec, an elderly gentleman who was born and raised in Citilcum.

For more on Mexican tradition watch our doc on the life of supposed saint, El Niño Fidencio:

Since then, the celebration has taken place in a park right beside the city's municipal buildings.

Freddy Poot Sosa, a Mayan culture researcher, seemed equally confused by the event. "I had no clue that such a celebration existed, I guess it must be a very local and exclusive tradition," he told me.

Nobody may know where this all started, but one thing is for sure—Kots Kaal Pato is something still happening in 2015.

Hundreds of animal sacrifice ritual Yucatan

July. 3. 2015

Iguanas, opossums and ducks are killed mercilessly as part of "traditional festivities"

Mérida.- The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) issued a recommendation to the mayor of Izamal, Yucatan state to prevent further sacrificing animals in a ritual called "Kots Kaal Duck".

The ritual is part of the traditional festivities in Citilcum and is that children, youth and adults break piñatas stuffed animals such as iguanas, and opossums. Also ducks, mostly, are hanging on a structure for participants from starting their heads.

The Mexican unit said in a statement that the aim of the recommendation is to "achieve decent treatment of wildlife, to eradicate celebrations of any act that injures, torture and mistreat copies like ducks."

It was also asked to conduct forums, workshops or any kind of meetings to promote the humane treatment of wildlife, preservation and care, between communities that are integrated into the city.

http://fuentesfidedignas.com.mx/portal2015/index.php/noticias-nacionales-e-internacionales/160-noticias-en-general/5107-sacrificananimales87

                    La Negra vs El Terrible

       One of the most horrifying forms of animal cruelty takes place in the Mexican state of Yucatan. There, an event called the “Torneo de Lazo,” takes place multiple times a year, during which trained bulls ram into horses, fatally wounding them. The event is known as a feast and a celebration, but it is also a rodeo, where the trained bulls purposely kill a number of horses.

When a horse is rammed by a bull, the most common injury it receives is evisceration–its intestines are cut loose from its body. The animal is literally gored by the bull’s horns, and it will not die quickly. A petition from Avaaz.org described the way horses “usually collapse and while still alive continue to get trampled by bulls and other horses.” The horses must then die slowly on the ground with their intestines cut lose from their bodies.

The absolute barbarism of this event is self-evident. It is technically illegal, yet no action is ever taken to stop the event, which reportedly takes place all over the state throughout the year. Demand that local and federal authorities take measures to end this disgusting practice.

- See more at: http://right-tourism.com/2015/01/end-barbaric-mexican-horse-feast-petition/#.dpuf

Bulls abuse in Tlacotalpan Mexico during Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria

  Every year on February 1 in Tlacotalpan—a city     in the Mexican state of Veracruz—bulls are horrifically tortured during the “Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria” festival. Liquor is poured down the bulls’ throats, and the animals are tied to boats and dragged across a river before being set loose in the streets. Participants then chase and beat the terrified animals and stab them with bats and knives. The torture continues for hours as drunken residents throw bricks and trash at the animals, kick and punch them, and cut off their ears. Surviving bulls are then turned out to pasture, no doubt left to suffer from their injuries. For photos of this barbaric event. The festival runs through February 9 and also includes gruesome chicken fights and horse races.

Despite a ban put in place in 2006 by the governor of Veracruz, the festival continues. Furthermore, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named Tlacotalpan a “World Heritage Site,” a prestigious title given to locations of cultural or physical significance.

Please contact city and state officials and urge them to ban this bloody and sadistic “tradition.” Ask UNESCO to revoke Tlacotalpan’s World Heritage Site status in light of this shameful event, and let Mexican tourism officials know that you will not travel to Tlacotalpan or Veracruz until this horrifying festival is brought to an end. 
Horse collapsed after being gored by bull!

SPAIN : World Traditional Animal Killing Festivals Bullfights

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           Spain The cruelty of bullfights

                                        !!WARNING GRAPHIC!! 

                                         

BanderillasIt seems hard to believe that in this so-called civilised age, a most vicious and cruel spectacle of blood continues to flourish in Spain and certain other countries. Bullfighting is barbaric and should have been banned long ago, as bear-baiting was. It is difficult to understand how crowds of people will pay money and take pleasure in watching one lone creature – who has never done them any harm — getting hacked to death. How can anyone with an ounce of compassion, cheer and chant olé as a banderilla or lance is thrust into the animal’s pain-racked body?

Bullfighting has a very glorified public image — it is presented as a contest between the brave matador, who boldly risks life and limb to tackle a mad and ferocious beast. The matador is always dressed in a traditional costume of brilliant colours: the bullfight is seen by many as the mysterious ritual between man and beast, which is an integral part of Spanish culture and custom. For this reason, many tourists who visit Spain feel that seeing a bullfight is a necessary part of their holiday, just as tourists visiting Britain go to see the Tower of London.

The bull is not an aggressive animal, and the reason he is angry and attempts to charge at the matador whilst in the bullring is mainly because he has been horrendously abused for the previous two days. In fact, what spectators see is not a normal, healthy bull, but a weakened, half-blinded and mentally destroyed version, whose chances of harming his tormentors is virtually nil. The bull has wet newspapers stuffed into his ears; vaseline is rubbed into his eyes to blur his vision; cotton is stuffed up his nostrils to cut off his respiration and a needle is stuck into his genitals. Also, a strong caustic solution is rubbed onto his legs which throws him off balance. This also keeps him from lying down on the ground. In addition to this, drugs are administered to pep him up or slow him down, and strong laxatives are added to his feed to further incapacitate him. He is kept in a dark box for a couple of days before he faces the ring: the purpose of this is to disorientate him. When he is let out of the box, he runs desperately towards the light at the end of the tunnel. He thinks that at last his suffering is over and he is being set free — instead, he runs into the bullring to face his killers and a jeering mob.

      

      THE “FIGHT"

                         

Strictly speaking, a bullfight is composed of 3 separate “acts”, and the whole thing is supposed to last for 20 minutes, though in actual fact it varies. The opening of a bullfight begins with a tune being played on a trumpet — the tune is the special, signa lure Rifle which characterises the beginning of the horror. Upon entering the ring, bulls have been known to collapse through exhaustion alter their pre-fight ordeal — they have been dragged to their feet by the bullfighter’s assistants.

    

The Picadors

The sequence of events begins when the bull faces the picadors — these are the men on horseback, whose purpose it is to exhaust the bull. They cut into his neck muscles with a pica. This is a weapon of about 6-8 inches long, and 2 inches thick. Once it is thrust into the bull it is twisted round and a large, gaping wound appears. The bull then starts bleeding to death.

The Assistant Matadors

After the picador has finished his sordid business, the assistant matadors then get to work with the banderillas (sharp, harpoon-like barbed instruments). These are plunged into the bull’s body, and he may also be taunted by capes. Up to six banderillas may be used. When the banderillas strike the bull stops in his tracks and bellows madly.

The Kill 

A trumpet signals the final “act” — in fact, during the whole nightmare, strange, slow tunes are played throughout. It is, of course, during the final act that the bull is killed (and hopefully goes onto a better life). The kill should last 6 minutes, and is done by the main matador. If he has any difficulties (which is an extremely rare occurrence), the others immediately rush in to his aid and finish off the bull.

        

       

  THE FINAL DEGRADATION

The matador is supposed to sever the artery near the heart with one thrust of the sword — in fact, this never happens. It often takes 2-3 times before the creature is mercifully released by death. By this time, the bull’s lungs and heart will be punctured and he always vomits blood. Miraculously, he sometimes attempts to rise again, and gets up on his knees, only to receive further mutilation at the hands of his tormentors. He finally gives up, goes to his knees and lies down. Even then, he is not allowed a little dignity to leave this world in peace, his ears and tail are cut off (often when he is fully conscious), and his broken, bleeding body is dragged around the ring by mules, to which he is attached by an apparatus made of wood and chains. Not content with his suffering, which must be too horrible to describe by words, the crowds boo and jeer him. They even throw empty beer cans at him. His body is then taken away to be skinned, and even then he may not be dead when this happens.

      

      

http://www.seamepost.com/campaigns/campaigns-against-spain-designates-bullfighting-part-cultural-heritage-worthy-protection/?cb=0586996310390532

                       The Last Bullfight

http://www.stopbullfighting.org.uk/alvaro_munera.htm

"And suddenly, I looked at the bull. He had this innocence that all animals have in their eyes, and he looked at me with this pleading. It was like a cry for justice, deep down inside of me. I describe it as being like a prayer — because if one confesses, it is hoped, that one is forgiven. I felt like the worst shit on earth.

    

This photo shows the collapse of Torrero Alvaro Munera, as he realized in the middle of his last fight ... the injustice to the animal. From that day forward he became an opponent of bullfights.

The career of eighteen-year-old Colombian torero Álvaro Múnera (known by the nickname "El Pilarico") ended when he was gored by a bull during a bullfight in 1984, with the resultant spinal cord and cranial injuries leaving him paralyzed. Múnera has since become a council member in his hometown of Medellín, a position from which he advocates for the rights of the disabled and promotes anti-bullfighting campaigns. 
The widely circulated photograph displayed above purports to have captured Múnera at the very moment, in the middle of a bullfight, when he came to the realization that what he was doing was an injustice to animals and decided to henceforth campaign against bullfighting. Although Múnera did undergo such a conversion, this photo doesn't depict the instant of his change of heart, for a number of reasons:

• Múnera didn't undergo his epiphany against bullfighting in the middle of a bullfight; he stopped participating in that activity only when he was forced out of the ring for good after a goring permanently paralyzed him.
• The posture shown in the photograph is not one of a torero collapsing or expressing contrition; rather, it's a common posture of desplante (defiance), a bit of showmanship in which the torero indicates his total domination of the bull by taking up what appears to be a dangerous position in front of the animal's horns. (Also, the quotation that accompanies the photograph was not spoken by Múnera; it is the work of Spanish writer Antonio Gala, who was not himself a torero.)

As detailed at The Last Arena blog, this photograph isn't a picture of Múnera at all, but rather a photo of some other torero.

      In a 2008 interview, Múnera expressed that his conversion to an anti-bullfighting animal rights defender did not occur at any one moment in the ring, but was part of an ongoing process that began before, and extended after, the accident that ended his career:

Q: Did you ever think of quitting bullfighting before that bull confined you to a wheelchair?A: Yes, there were several critical moments. Once I killed a pregnant heifer and saw how the fetus was extracted from her womb. The scene was so terrible that I puked and started to cry. I wanted to quit right there but my manager gave me a pat on my back and said I shouldn’t worry, that I was going to be an important bullfighting figure and scenes like that were a normal thing to see in this profession. I’m sorry to say that I missed that first opportunity to stop. I was 14 and didn’t have enough common sense. Some time later, in an indoor fight, I had to stick my sword in five or six times to kill a bull. The poor animal, his entrails pouring out, still refused to die. He struggled with all his strength until the last breath. This caused a very strong impression on me, and yet again I decided it wasn’t the life for me. But my travel to Spain was already arranged, so I crossed the Atlantic. Then came the third chance, the definitive one. It was like God thought, “If this guy doesn’t want to listen to reason, he’ll have to learn the hard way.” And of course I learned.
Q: What was the decisive factor that made you an animal-rights defender?
A: When I went to the U.S. [for medical treatment], where I had to face an antitaurine society that cannot conceive how another society can allow the torture and murder of animals. It was my fellow students, the doctors, nurses, the other physically disabled people, my friends, my North American girlfriend, and the aunt of one of my friends, who said I deserved what happened to me. Their arguments were so solid that I had to accept that it was me who was wrong and that the 99 percent of the human race who are firmly against this sad and cruel form of entertainment were totally right. Many times the whole of the society is not to blame for the decisions of their governments. Proof of this is that most people in Spain and Colombia are genuinely anti-bullfighting. Unfortunately there’s a minority of torturers in each government supporting these savage practices.

http://www.stopbullfighting.org.uk/alvaro_munera.htm

                                    

   

Bullfighting professional banderillas 

                Running of the Bulls

Every year from July 7th-14th thousands pack into Pamplona to start Spain's most famous bull-running fiesta to honour Navarre capital's patron saint, San Fermin. Spain stages more than 3,000 fiestas (festivals) each year but the 7 days of bull-running are the favourite in terms of spectacle and excitement.

After the daybreak of July 7th, runners (mainly young men) gather at the bottom of Santo Domingo, which is the starting line. They crowd together and sing to the image of San Fermin which is placed in a niche on a wall. The song goes: "A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro dándonos su bendición" ("We ask San Fermín, as our Patron, to guide us through the Bull Run and give us his blessing.")

Then, as a rocket goes off, a number of fighting bulls are let out onto the streets. A second rocket is then let off to make sure everyone knows the bulls are loose in the street. The bulls run along the narrow street 825 metres (half a mile) to a bull ring. The runners dash along in front of the bulls, aiming to feel the breath of the bull on their backs, getting as close as possible - all whilst trying to avoid getting gored by their sharp horns.

The supposed way to do this is to start off slowly when the bulls are quite a distance behind. Then as they get nearer start running like hell! You can then go near them for a short time, as near as you are prepared to risk it, and then quickly get out of the way. Runners look for a gap in the fence to slip through or jump over, or a space against the wall of the street.

When the bulls finally reach the end of the street, they go into pens and are kept until later that day they are killed in a bullfight.

The tradition is said to have come from practicality when, in 1591 residents merely had to herd the bulls to the bull-fighting arena. At first only the drovers were used to lead the bulls. But it seems that at some date, the butchers guild, who had the responsibility of buying the bulls, began to join in with the drovers and began to chase behind the bulls and heifers up to the bull-ring from Santo Domingo street - the starting point of the run.

As time passed the event became more and more popular and some people began to run in front of the bulls and not behind them, as the drovers do. In 1852, a new bull-ring was built and a new route - becoming much shorter also, because as from 1899, it was decided to bring the bulls up to a small corral in Santo Domingo street the night before they fight in the ring.

Originally only a few daring souls ran with the bulls but the adrenaline rush of running in front of a 1500lb bull has since caught on. People now journey from all around the world to run with the bulls.

Other cities in Spain also have bull running festivals if you can´t make San Fermin or don´t like crowds. Aravaca-Pozuelo, a suburb of Madrid, for example, has a bull running festival in late summer.

http://www.spain-info.com/Culture/bullrunning.htm

                            Entertainment….That’s Just a Load of ‘Bull’

Collins

Today, all over Spain there are hundreds of bull and cow ‘torture’ fiestas where animals are brutally attacked by violent crowds. Thousands of animals are tortured to death each year, and hundreds of horses involved in the fiestas are also gored to death in the process.

During one recent fiesta, a pregnant cow actually gave birth to its calf while being stabbed during the festival.

In Algemesi, a hundred baby bulls are dragged away from their mothers to be tortured by groups of young men. In Villalpando Zamora, three bulls are let out in the field and participants come with quads, motorcycles, tractors with trailers, on horseback or on foot, and vehicles just drive over the exhausted bulls for the fun of the crowd.

                                                      

In many villages, bulls are tied up and their horns set on fire, burning  the bulls’ faces and rendering them blind. These bulls run into walls and stumble over things just to entertain people. After hours of torture, the bulls all die and their bodies are cut apart and distributed amongst the participants. Sometimes the bulls are burned alive. At others, bulls are tortured until they jump in the water to escape, some of whom drown. In Peñalsordo, Extremadura, Spain, six young cows are tortured to death, four in the makeshift plaza and two  released to be tormented in the streets, all witnessed by children. To soften up bulls before bull fights and festivals, they often have substances rubbed into their eyes to blur their vision, cotton balls inserted in their  nose to weaken their respiration, and a needle stuck into their genitals.

These fiestas are defended, and actively promoted, by the Spanish government as being part of their cultural heritage. As a lawyer involved with the media, I know many experts say that people who enjoy inflicting such savage violence onto animals, or even watching it, are a potential danger to other people, especially children, something tourists are entitled to know about.

Understandably such cruelty is causing outrage among millions of people all over the world, as the publicity of these shocking events spreads in the media and internet.

Many have said they would expect a travel company to forewarn them of such events and if they accidentally stumbled  across such an event without having been warned they would take some sort of action against the travel company. They have also said they would be alarmed at the risk of coming across such people while on holiday.

Millions of people all over the world care deeply about animal welfare, and as publicity of animal abuse grows hugely, increasing numbers are saying they would favour and publicise travel companies who advised people about animal abuse issues as it is so important to them. Powerful animal charities should also publicise travel companies who promote, and do not promote, animal welfare.

Make the right choice – for those that say it’s entertainment, that really is a load of bull.

http://right-tourism.com/entertainment-thats-just-a-load-of-bull/#sthash.pg0OXNHI.dpbs

             

Trophy hunting

Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game for human recreation. The trophy is the animal or part of the animal kept, and usually displayed, to represent the success of the hunt. The primary game sought is usually the oldest and most mature animal from a given population.

Trophy hunting - Wikipedia

Prince William Defends Trophy Hunting

03.15.2016

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/15/prince-william-defends-trophy-hunting.html

Every year, trophy hunters kill thousands of exotic wild animals, representing hundreds of different species, in foreign countries, primarily in Africa. They prefer to kill the most beautiful, the biggest and the rarest.

Wealthy trophy hunters pay big bucks to local cash-stripped governments for permits that grant them a choice of which animal to kill—Donald Trump’s two sons just killed several wild animals, including a giraffe and an elephant in Zimbabwe. The list of “huntable” species is usually very long and includes more common species such as impala, black bears, common zebra, giraffes, and baboons, but also endangered species such as elephants, leopards and white rhinos (the Western African black rhino was recently officially declared to be “extinct”).

There is also no regard for species protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) such as the African elephant or leopards. In fact, the more rare the animal, the more thrill to kill for the “big game” hunters, and the higher the price for the permit.

Competition and Bragging rights
Trophy hunters do not care about conservation, the struggle for survival of many animals. What they care about is killing the biggest and the best, and bringing home full trophy mounts or body parts. Heads, horns, tusks, and other body parts of most of these animals are legally, and sometimes illegally, imported as trophies to the United States by the hunters.

Trophy hunting hurts conservation
The mantra of trophy hunters is that their killing “benefits conservation”, but not only are individual animals brutally sacrificed, trophy hunting poses a significant threat to the very survival of African lions. Similarly, considering that African elephants are already endangered— by some estimates facing extinction in 50 years—it is ludicrous to argue that trophy hunting benefits elephants.

The ESA allows importation of endangered species only for scientific research, enhancement of propagation, or survival of the species. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which implements the ESA, has broadly interpreted the term “enhancement” to include trophy hunting of protected species, and trophy hunters often take advantage of the loopholes to find ways to take “their trophies” across the U.S. border, under the guise of scientific research and other permits for exemption.

In 1997, Kenneth Behring, millionaire, trophy hunter and former president of the Safari Club International (SCI), paid the government of Kazakhstan to allow him to shoot an endangered Kara Tau argali sheep, of which only 100 individuals were left. He then donated $100 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and solicited the help of the museum for an import permit. A public outcry ensured and USFWS withdrew the permit. This is not an isolated case and the reality is that many museums have been involved in facilitating the killing and import of endangered species by trophy hunters in the past.

The Safari Club International (SCI)
Trophy hunting is an elitist hobby for those excited to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a safari with the goal of killing a beautiful, large or rare exotic animal. Many trophy hunters are members of powerful and wealthy organizations such as the Safari Club International (SCI), which promotes competitive trophy hunting throughout the world, even of rare and sensitive species, including in cowardly “canned hunts”, through an elaborate awards program.

Killing contests
SCI members kill particular species of animals to win so-called ‘Grand Slam’ and ‘Inner Circle’ titles. The list of macabre ‘contests’ include the Africa Big Five, (leopard, elephant, lion, rhino, and buffalo); the North American Twenty Nine (all species of bear, bison, sheep, moose, caribou, and deer); and the Antlered Game of the Americas, among many other contests. SCI members take short cuts in their hurry to beat competitors by killing captive and defenseless animals in canned hunts, both in the United States and in other countries. Corruption and unethical behavior is rampant in this bloodthirsty competition. “Hunters” lure animals to their guns with bait, shoot them from helicopters or vehicles with spotlights, or in or near national parks. There are 29 awards in all, and in order to win all of them, at the highest level, a hunter would have to kill 322 animals of different species or subspecies.

The “Holy Grail” for SCI members
The “Holy Grail” for SCI members is the club’s record book, a three-volume compendium of thousands of pages listing names of who killed what animal, where and when. The list spans more than 1,100 species, some of which have since become extinct. Meticulous scores and rankings are recorded for the biggest tusks, horns, antlers, skulls and bodies, with photographs of grinning men and women posing with their high powered rifles or archery gear next to dead animals, often holding the animals heads up to display their “prize”.

SCI contributes large sums to mostly Republican candidates, and supports those who are eager to help further the club’s shameful agenda to weaken and to circumvent the intent of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and to legally import once-banned trophies of endangered and threatened wildlife.

Examples of the SCI’s efforts to derail wildlife protection include fighting a current petition to protect the African lion under the ESA. Along with the National Rifle Association (NRA), SCI intervened with a law that directed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the Northern Rocky Mountain wolves from the endangered species list. In 2007, SCI testified at a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service hearing opposing the proposed listing of polar bears as a “threatened” species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

The SCI continues to create and feed a culture glamorizing death and violence globally, across political lines, international borders, and against wildlife and even people. Fortunes are made on the back of millions of animals whose lives are taken by trophy hunters for the sake of killing in an endless spiral of competition.

And while most empathic people prefer to simply watch these magnificent animals, already struggling to survive in human-dominated landscapes, trophy hunters fulfill their lust to kill the largest animals and the most exotic animals to rack up SCI awards. Underlying these actions are futile efforts to transcend weak character, arrested emotional development, narcissism, sexual perversion, anger and finally, a misguided attempt to overcome their own disconnect to nature.

Michele Leqve has been bow hunting since the fall of 1996, and in that time, she has taken many, big game animals and has 10 different species! As of February 2015 she has taken 61 big game animals! She has 19 Pope & Young Class animals. She started bow hunting in the fall of 1996, when she met her husband Jim in 1995 and quickly found out that he was a bow hunter only, so she put down her gun and quickly followed in his foot steps. She and her husband Jim travel all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, and South Africa pursuing the animals they love to hunt.