Arizona World Cup Lion Burgers: When Greed Wins

A small restaurant in Mesa, Arizona called Il Vinaio ran by Cameron Selogie is serving real African Lion Meat Burgers as a way to “honor” the ongoing FIFA world cup in South Africa.

I first received this shocking news through a group message in Facebook. I immediately looked it up in the internet. Maybe it is my dumbness, but I really couldn’t believe at that time that these kinds of thing still happen in the world, let alone in the most advanced country of the world, America! I think they are right when they say, in a place there are as many good people as there are bad ones.

Apparently this is not the first time in America when they served Lions as a dish! A restaurant in Philadelphia included a dish made out of Lions in their menu. But as protests raised, they had to remove that shameful "delicacy".
 
Let’s go a little deeper into this matter, as far as I can go with my limited knowledge and resources.


The story started when Il Vinaio (a restaurant) bought about 10 pounds of so-called African lion meat. They planned to mix it up with ground beef and make burgers honoring the FIFA World Cup 2010, which is currently taking place in South Africa. Selogie, the owner of the restaurant sent emails to his customers stating the special dish they were serving. But unfortunate for him, and fortunate for us, one of his customers were animal activist. She spread the word to a local TV station, and the news has since circled the globe from there.

Now, from where does Selogie get the meat?

Selogie bought the meat from "Czimer's Game and Sea Foods" (czimers.com) which is a butcher shop located just outside of Chicago in Homer Glen, Ill. Czimer sells pheasants, quail, ducks, venison, buffalo, llama, camel and so on.

So where does Richard Czimer, the company's owner, get these lions?

Richard said to CNNmoney.com
"This man (mystery man) buys and sells animals for the skin, and when I need something and he has ability to get it, I will bargain for the meat. It's a byproduct. (...) I wouldn't have any idea (from where the mystery man gets the Lions). He has his sources, and I do not infringe on his business, just as he does not infringe on mine. Do you question where chickens come from when you go to Brown's Chicken or Boston Market?"
Its clear that the mystery supplier is a poacher. In his defense Richard Czimer said that African Lion is not an endangered species, so it can be sold as a game food. But he ignored the fact that African lion is in the list of “threatened” animals. The current population of African Lions is somewhere between 16,500-47,000. Maybe he might not be legally obliged to stop what he is doing, as according to him, his business is certified by USDA and FDA; but it is really a matter of moral obligation. You cannot just go ahead and kill a magnificent wild animal for a few extra bucks. I am not a vegetarian by any means but I strictly hate poaching and killing of wild animals, for any reasons apart from self defense. The wild life or the nature depends on us, more that we depend on them. We must not forget that.

Stop Poaching
Stop Farming African Lions, Thee are not Domestic Animals  
Sign the Petition: Save African Lions from being Meals
Blog Yourself or Share This Article to Raise Awareness
Don't Let Greed Win 

1 comment:

  1. I don't get it. What kind of sick pleasure does people derive from these activities?

    strange... :(

    ReplyDelete