Godaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons has convinced himself that he's a humanitarian. I think he's got a long way to go before he lives up to that self-billing. He's in the news today because he traveled to Zimbabwe recently to shoot an elephant for a trophy and then released a video in which he is happily grinning over his conquest. Now the man known for racy Super Bowl ads is spinning his version of the event and trying to morph this selfish act of slaughter into some selfless act of charity.
He shot the elephant at night, and claims it was a "problem elephant." It happened to be a bull elephant with sizeable tusks, just the type that trophy hunters like to kill. He seems to be a rather obsessive trophy hunter; one other self-produced video on the web shows him wounding and later killing a leopard, and the current edition of Safari Club International's magazine shows an array of animal heads mounted on his wall as trophies.
If he wants to help the people of Africa, I suggest he spend a day with Oprah Winfrey or Bill Gates and learn how real charitable work on the continent is done. They've invested of their time and considerable wealth to promote education, housing, nutrition, and public health. And last time I checked, they didn't leave a trail of animal victims they've personally slain at the end of their visit. If he wants to help people keep elephants out of crop fields, he should fund the building of solar-powered fences like those successfully used for this purpose in neighboring South Africa. My guess is Mr. Parsons went to Africa to shoot an elephant, and perhaps some other creatures, and then tried to find some high-sounding rationale for his gambit.
I've heard this kind of excuse-making from trophy hunters before. In fact, in my book, The Bond, to be released on April 5, I recount the rhetorical gymnastics and whitewashing of a killing spree also in southern Africa by trophy hunter Ken Behring, who shot several endangered elephants in one of his safaris. Like Parsons, he claimed he did the killing for the good of the community, identifying the animals as "problem elephants." It turns out that wildlife authorities in Mozambique had a different take on the matter, and they wanted Ken Behring to leave their country without delay.
HSUS has about 650 domain names with GoDaddy.com. I've instructed our staff to find another host for them. We don't like doing business with a company with a leader like Parsons. I hope you'll think about following suit. No one needs to kill elephants either to show his manhood or to do humanitarian work.
This post originally appeared on Pacelle's blog, A Humane Nation.
Follow Wayne Pacelle on Twitter: www.twitter.com/humanesociety
Since the GoDaddy CEO now is quite wealthy he could have arranged for a transport of that elephant far from the location and food for the tribe too. I am sure neither thing would have posed a problem for him.
Anyway, one thing we can do is to get the petition at thepetitionsite.com to go viral. Hopefully that will drive the point home to that guy.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/588/787/809/
http://www.wildlife-rescue.org/about/services/advocacy/canned.php
Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.
James A. Froude
http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2011/03/peter-beard-on-elephant-and-human-over.html
However it may be -- ever since I designed a web site for another company (who themselves chose GD) I have sworn to never use that portal again -- based purely on the clunkiness of the whole process. It would have been far less trouble for me to write all the software from scratch and run a cable from the company's computers to the nearest optical fiber.
That was way before I knew anything about the CEO himself, or about killing elephants.
#20.
1. Killing an animal just because it is being an animal is base ignorance not worthy of being a human being.
2. Trophy killing of animal species is in my estimation dubious at best. Why cannot one take a close up photograph and say see, I could have if I wanted, but it was such a magnificent creature, (the reason why it is considered a "trophy"), I had no right to end its existence. Wasn't it Thucydides that said "[O]f all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most." I agree with him 100%, (but then again I like to claim I am a secure being).
3. I disagree with hunting of animals whose population bases can be destroyed forever, (and that is a mighty long time), in one generation.
4. If one likes to shot guns for sport, do what I do, target practice, clay dinner-size plates at 150 meters with iron sites, that is a challenge.
5. Contributing any type of financial assistance to the Mugabe regime, (which these safari's do), only prolongs the suffering of the people, not short term photo-op feel good stories.
Nope, I have been following this story and individuals opinions and still stand firm in my convictions that this was some yahoo trying to be a big man.
Conduct such as this should be penalized.
This happens all the time and no one cares. It is only when it makes the news that people get upset. It is like when children are abused, or business fleece consumers, or any of a number of things. Sure - it happens and we can live in our denial. Just don't report it to us - THAT really upsets us.
There is nothing noble here: Mr. Parsons is not a professional wildlife manager, expert, notable physician regarding elephant behavior nor an African native.
Don’t be fooled. Have you seen the commercials for GoDaddy on TV ? Did you forget that one recently was “pulled” off the air because it was so offensive. The commercials are demented in their tone, ill conceived and bent. Apparently, Mr. Parsons suffers from poorly conceived rhetoric as well. Don’t be duped. He should be fined where it counts, in his pocket, and be required to assist saving the last remaining elephants in Africa instead of murdering them unnecessarily by a fool's ploy.
Trophy hunting has no place or justification in 2011 when the species slaughtered are the last remaining few on the planet.
See attached:
The Truth About Killing 'Problem'Elephants: Zimbabwe's premier conservationist told AOL news/ Parsons misinformed /doesn't understand the level of govt corruption /collapse of economy/ affect wildlife /plight of elephants/ once a top destination for tourists / environmental policies/deteriorated.
Parsons/ killing the elephant justified / too many in Zimbabwe/ attacking farmers /crops /no way of getting rid of them. NO: the govt deliberately inflates number of elephants /allot a certain number to be killed. Last year they said 500 elephants could be killed. They say there are 100,000 elephants/ more like 30,000 and 35,00 / lie about the number /allow hunters to kill them. They use the income generated to pay the wages to the park staffers villagers don't see a penny/Zimbabwe guardians of the wildlife are the perpetrators.
What would you say to Bob Parsons ?
/stop supporting terrible system / not helping poor people / his wealth for unethical hunts not helping anyone /traumatized animals/ desperate people. Telling them to eat meat/ giving them caps/ is like treating them like slaves.
What about the bull elephant he killed ?
Elephants are families. The bull elephant killed has a family. Bull elephants are the leaders of the herd /same as a robber coming into Parsons' house /shooting him in front of one of his kids. Parsons should look at incredible research on elephants / elephant family behavior. Elephants are among the smartest/sensitive animals alive.