UNITED KINGDOM – A 12-year-old hunter looked literally horrified when Piers Morgan challenged her violent hobby on Good Morning Britain today.
The US pre-teen, said to be Aryanna Gourdin, sparked a furious backlash from animal lovers after she proudly posted a photo of herself alongside a majestic giraffe she had just gunned down for a snap later posted on social media.
During her stint on the ITV breakfast show, the American explained that while she felt a bit remorseful for killing the animal, she would never stopping killing for her own personal enjoyment.
“I like hunting because it’s something that’s been in my family a long time,” she explained. “And I really enjoy the taste of the meat we kill.”
Commenting on the death threats she’s beenreceiving online for posting the graphic photos in question, Aryanna added: “I’m very upset that people would value an animal’s life over another person’s.
“I try to ignore most of the comments I get but I do read some by accident. I just try to not let them get to me.
“It won’t stop me hunting. I will always hunt. It’s something that thousands of people do and it’s never going to stop.”
Piers looked absolutely outraged by Aryanna’s comments – as well as her father Eli, who was was supporting everything his little girl said.
And so, in a bid to try and get the pair to understand the furious reaction from the public, the presenter asked how she would feel if somebody hunted her beloved pet cat.
“What? You’re saying because I hunt I can’t have a cat?” she asked.
Her father went on to add: “That’s a trick question! We have never killed a pet. That’s a derogatory question and it falls into the same category as the death threats. We would never think to kill somebody’s pet!”
The interview then came to a very abrupt end – but Piers, of course, had to have the last word.
“I’m sure they wouldn’t kill a pet but if they did they would do it with remorse,” the presenter snapped.
The drama all kicked off last week following a family holiday in South Africa, during which she and her father killed more than a dozen wild animals.
Aryanna, who has been a hunter since the age of seven, boasted of taking down a giraffe, wildebeest, impala and zebra, while her dad posted pictures on social media of himself alongside a huge eland antelope he had killed.
Their kills are set to be imported back to the family home which is located in Cove, Utah, shortly.
Literally thousands have condemned Aryanna’s parents for teaching her to kill and some have even demanded child welfare services be called in to assess the family.
However, despite the mounting social media pressure, he and his wife to change, Eli has hit back insisting his critics do not understand hunting.
“I don’t tell anyone else how to raise their children,” he stated. “They don’t understand the conservation aspect of it. We’re proud to be hunters and we’ll never apologize for being a hunter!”
