Barefoot Bob has “Fun” Tormenting Hogs
If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s not getting emotional when it comes to animal issues that make me want to strangle someone. Enter Bob Richardson of West Texas, who is known as "Barefoot Bob" because as a child he ran around without shoes. In With Hands and Hounds, Stalking Feral Hogs in Texas, Barefoot Bob talks to Tim Eaton of the New York Times, telling him how, in the middle of the night, he chases wild hogs with a truck full of pit bulls, who are released to hunt the hogs down.
Bob has to rip them off of the hogs, then he wrestles the hogs into his truck to sell them to a "processor." Why does he do this?
Let’s deconstruct:
- "It’s for fun," he said.
For all the entertaining details, you simply must watch the accompanying slide show, with photos taken by Michael Stravato of the NYT. The photos are stunning in their horror. I find it chilling that someone could find such joy in causing so much terror and pain.
- When Barefoot Bob isn’t stalking feral hogs, he’s picking up the ones he has trapped throughout rural West Texas. All hogs will be sold to "a processor;" this is a way for Bob to make some money (last year he made $28,000 selling live feral hogs).
My mother used to tell my sister and me that "All work is honorable." I believed that, and repeated it frequently. As an adult, I disagree. When the motivation of your work, and/or its objective, is to cause grave terror and harm to another sentient being, and you are willing to admit to the world that you enjoy it, that’s not honorable–to me. What I can muster up for Barefoot Bob, is compassion for his lack of awareness. I’m doing the best I can.
- "Processor?" Shame on Eaton for using the terminology of those who want to avoid using honest language. It’s a slaughterhouse. The hogs are going there to be slaughtered.
- Eaton reports that hunters will often capture the wild hogs "and release them into areas of the state where they had not lived before."
Is it me, or is that really twisted? The wild hog population is already enormous, and they breed like bunnies, eat anything, and easily adapt to their environments. Relocating some of the them to keep breeding so the hunters can justify more hunting is a genius idea, from the hunters point of view. But not so much from the point of view of anyone with an ecological ethic.
- The final paragraph of the article states the hogs don’t have a natural predator, "So Barefoot Bob Richardson is the natural predator."
The primary definiton of predator is: one who exists by preying upon other organisms. Notice there’s no mention that the preying is done for "fun;" it says that’s how they "exist." Consequently, Barefoot Bob is not really a predator; he certainly doesn’t need to do what he does in order to exist. He doesn’t catch the hogs because he needs to eat them for his own survival. He’s just a stalker, a hunter, and a terrorist (one who terrorizes or frightens others), who has found a way to make some money from his hobby.
I wonder if my mother would say that’s honorable?
I am related to Barefoot Bob, and came across your little article with quite the amount of disgust. I myself am not a hunter, and have only been hunting a few times in my life – most of which I enjoyed very little and was only something for me to say that I did. Just to "clear" me as a hunter, per say.
You should re-evaluate your standing on the hunting of feral hogs. All you read was a New York Times article; have you even considered looking up the damage that these hogs cause to Texas agriculture? Believe me when I tell you, these hogs need to be eradicated by any means possible; they simply cause too much damage to our sensitive agriculture. Hunters don't like hogs because they interfere with their hunting. Farmers absolutely can't stand hogs because the hogs eat everything they grow. Barefoot Bob makes a living off of helping people grow their crops by keeping the hogs away from them. Without these crops, you have literally thousands of families that will go broke – this is their life, and their income.
Of course Barefoot enjoys what he does. He is a born hunter, he does get excitement out of what he does; can you blame him? Isn't that the "American Dream;" to work and love what you do? You, sir, should re-evaluate your definition of "honorable." To me, Barefoot does do an honorable thing by making sure that farming families have crops to sell.
Barefoot is no dummy. Besides hunting for money, the man is extraordinarily educated in environmental issues, can tell you the genus, order, and family of just about any plant you put in front of him. The man can tell you exactly which chemicals in what plants do what to the human body. Myself being a chemistry-nut, I was rather surprised that he could tell me verbatim the IUPAC name of some of the health-related chemicals in some of these plants (like what to chew on if you have a toothache).
The man is not just some redneck that is hunting for fun; he has other motives. Fortunately for him, he is doing something that helps West Texas to a great extent, while also making money and loving what he does.
I highly suggest that you take a visit to Aspermont Texas, and ask some of the locals around that tiny-town just how much impact he has on the economy around him.
"Someone,"
Briefly,
1-I don't appreciate, and usually don't publish, anonymous comments. If you're so proud of what you say and what you stand for, you shouldn't shroud yourself in anonymity.
2-I am female, therefore not a "sir."
3-I've been to Texas plenty of times, though not West Texas, and we have plenty of wild pigs here in Florida that people hunt and kill. In my mind, it is not honorable to stalk and slaughter a being who is sentient. Sentient means that they can feel pleasure, pain, boredom and frustration, just like we can. Unless it is in direct self-defense–not defense of property or livelihood–and certainly not for enjoyment–I cannot morally justify the killing of sentient beings.
4-I always worry about people who "love" what they do when what they do for a living is terrorize and kill beings who deserve to live as much as they do.
5-We can slaughter our way out of many problems, but that doesn't make it right. We have far too many people on the planet, using resources and destroying the land, sea and air. Shall we kill some of them?
Well first off He does not terrorize anything if you dont know exactly what you are talking about you need to keep your mouth closed.. That is what is wrong with this world you people take a few words and turn them into a freakin enourmous ordeal.. There are more people injured and killed everyday driving down the road or by drug overdose. There is never a hog killed by a dog or by Barefoot unless it is a hog that he does butcher to feed his family with and all the meat we eat is right from mother nature no cloned crap or all these additives. I am not saying you are wrong about your thoughts you have a choice to what you think and believe in but so do we and to me commenting on what you have no intelect on is a very bad choice you know how people take things they hear twist them around and make it a story. Well untill you have met the man who has saved human lives for 20+ years than you have no right to judge him.. You are not God and you have no right to call anyone a terrorist or a stalker. Oh by the way there are not truck loads of pitbull's he may use one if that and when all hogs are sold which I have a buying station and they are all alive and well taken care of until they are picked up and transfered away.. There are lots of people that are supporting there family off of selling hogs they have trapped and caught. I am sorry we are all not perfect like you.. I could care less what you have to say about me or anything I do which is Hunt hogs the same as Bob, trap and sell them as well. Although if you knew me you would know that I am a very nice person but my life style is not the perfect life of your so that makes me a terrorist Right? You would still have your ignorant opionins on once again facts you know nothing about.. Feel free to contact me or Bob and we will tell you how we do it or even answer any question you may have and then you can judge me.. To everyone else who has been judged by this very rude woman God Bless.
Brandi,
1) Hogs are not things.
2) Sending dogs after hogs, or chasing them down at night or at any other time, to capture and kill them, is terrorizing them. How would you like it if someone unleashed dogs to track you down and capture you then kill you and eat you? Would you object to that? Would you object if the same was done to your "pet" dog? You, your dog and hogs have many things in common, but one is very important: you are all sentient, meaning you all feel pleasure, pain, boredom and frustration, and yes, terror. And you all want to live your lives in peace.
3) Butchering people, dogs or hogs is still butchering them. Whether or not you eat them doesn't matter. If you aren't killing them because you absolutely need to in order to survive, that killing is unjustified and unethical.
4) Many people who kill people and animals are nice when they are not killing; that's irrelevant.
5) I am not perfect. Far from it.
6) I do not believe in god. Whether or not there is a god is irrelevant to me; it would not change how I behave. I do the right thing because it is right, not because someone will reward me if I do (or punish me if I don't). If it turns out I am wrong and there is a god, it won't matter, as I try my best to cause as little harm as possible. There's no way a god, if that god is truly what it should be, would think that not killing when you don't need to is bad.
Thanks for stopping by.
In honor of the one wild hog I ever met… and all the other wild hogs that are being chased and killed, captured and released, terrorized and eaten: You share in this dilema that man has put all animals in: to be loved too little, or too much.
ah brandi…why should we argue with these people? i too posted a comment that wasn't published. anyone who knows our family knows that Bob does MUCH more FOR the environment that anyone else we know!
part of the reason we don't always publish our names is because of the loonies that want to "terrorize" people in order to enforce their own beliefs about how nature should work. and if hunting is not a natural part of nature, then absolutely nothing is.
if you want to get down to the brass tacks, then building a house or driving a car are purposeful things that "terrorize" wildlife. just about everything we humans do destroys nature. its all part of the food chain!
i don't hunt or have only done so a very few times. i did have a friend once who hated the thought of hunting, but she sure did hunt down the meat isle at the grocery store.
who's to say that cabbage doesn't know what's going on anyway? we humans don't know everything! lol.
really, i don't mind that these people have such opinions, that is their business. however, it is very wrong when they start talking about my brother like he is a monster. i would bet money that you couldn't find a single person that would testify to anything other than Bob being a 100% upstanding, fair, honest, likeable, helpful person.
the person that responded to your comment said she doesn't believe in God. that is the saddest part of it all. sounds like she has some anger issues as well. i think that prayers for her are in order.
i'm gonna guess this comment won't be posted, but as long as it gets read, my goal is accomplished.
Why should you argue with us indeed.
You are not telling the truth, Jackie. You are lying. You did not post a comment that was not published. I am the only person who moderates this blog, and comments that are abusive and/or vulgar, or that don't add value to the conversation do not get published. This post is very old and I don't recall what happened with brandi. Perhaps she wrote an abusive rant that I chose not to include in the conversation because it did not add value. Perhaps there was no comment at all. I don't recall and it's not a good use of my time to attend to this.
Jackie, people whom others would call "fair, honest and likeable" [sic] do cruel, horrible things all the time, so your comment isn't relevant. I was referring to the part of Bob portrayed in the article and I stand by my words.
Furthermore, I have no reason to believe in anyone's god. Not yours or anyone else's. Belief in a god would not change the way I act or what I believe is fair and just.
Here's what I care about: Stopping the unnecessary domination, torture and slaughter of sentient beings. Hunting fits into that category entirely. As does buying someone's flesh or secretions in the grocery story.
I won't respond to further comments, but do wish that someday you will come to care about the lives of sentient nonhumans.
MARY MARTIN SO CALLED PHD. DO YOU DRINK MILK, DRINK COFFEE, EAT BUTTER, FEED YOUR DOGS DOG FOOD OR USE ANY TYPE OF LOTION? I WOULD VENTURE TO SAY YOU DO. ALL OF WHICH HAVE SOME SORT OF ANIMAL BY PRODUCT. YOU ARE COMPLETELY UNEDUCATED ON WILD HOGS AND THE DISEASES THEY CARRY(ex: E-COLI, SALOMENELLA AND OTHER DISEASES THAT POLLUTE CROPS AND CAUSE HAVOC TO THE AG INDUSTRY). ANIMALS ARE THAT EXACTLY ANIMALS PUT ON THIS EARTH FOR A PURPOSE SOME AS PETS SOME AS WILD GAME. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN KILING MASS OF ANIMALS FOR NO REASON BUT A HUNTER RESPECTS THE ENVIROMENT MORE THAN MOST AMERICANS. THE CONCERN YOU HAVE FOR ANIMALS MAKES ME WONDER DO YOU WALK TO WORK, BECAUSE WHEN YOU DRIVE YOU POLLUTE THE ENVIROMENT WHICH COULD BE CONSIDERED SLOW TORTURE TO AN ANIMAL OR EVEN A WHOLE SPECIES. HOW ABOUT THE AIR CONDITIONING IN YOUR HOUSE, FULL OF GREENHOUSE GASES. IT IS REALLY EASY TO THROW STONES AT PEOPLE TO MAKE YOURSELF SOUND AS IF YOU HAVE A CAUSE BUT IN REALITY IT IS JUST HOT AIR TO GET YOUR NAME NOTICED. I HAVE NO PHD BUT I DO HAVE COMMON SENSE AND I AM IN TOUCH WITH REALITY. SOMETHINGS IN THE WORLD CAN NOT BEEN SEEN UNLESS EXPERIENCED. SO UNTIL YOU WALK A MILE IN BOB'S SHOES DO NOT JUDGE WHAT HE DOES. HE HAS CARED FOR AND RESCUED MORE ANIMALS THAN YOU HAVE PROBALBLY EVER SEEN.
Thanks for stopping by, RUSSELL.
Here's a tip, when you type a comment in all caps, no one takes you seriously because it's clear that all you want to do is scream.
I'm going to close the comments on his post, as moderating them or blocking people, even if it takes a moment of my time, is too much of my time to spend on such things.
I am a vegan. What that means, as obviously you do not read this blog and were sent here by someone else to comment on this post only, is that I do not drink the milk of any other species of nonhuman. I drink almond milk that I make myself. I don't eat butter and don't drink coffee (though I do have some fair-trade, shade grown organic coffee in my freezer, and coffee is vegan), and my dogs, most of the time, do not eat animals.
My goal is to prevent doing harm when I can and to certainly refrain from intentionally hurting, tormenting or killing anyone. That's what hunting is. Nobody's perfect, and nobody can avoid harm all of the time if they live in mainstream America, on the grid (or even off the grid). But everyone in mainstream America can avoid hunting, eating animals, wearing animals, and buying products made from animals.
For the past 25 years I have worked from my home, so no driving was involved until very recently.
But RUSSELL, I do not owe you any explanation for the way I live.
As I said, I am closing the comments. It will give us all time to do things that are more worthwhile. I hope you spend your time on activities that don't involve intentionally inflict harm.