I came across this statement recently as I was trawling through the fiery debates on the Sky News discussion board. After a little more browsing, I saw that this is a sentiment shared by many Canadians. After all, goes the argument, Europeans cull lots of animals including deer, bears, and foxes. They should deal with their own problems first and let poor, rural Canadians continue to eke out a meagre income by killing seals.

Well, as a Canadian who lives in Europe, I find this proposition a bit mystifying.

After all, don’t Europeans, Canadians and Americans all share a common cultural heritage that says that causing injury to another creature in such a way that is cruel is morally objectionable? In fact, I think you’d be hard-pressed, whether in Europe or North America, to find anybody who could watch a three-month-old infant seal shot or clubbed and left to slowly die in a pool of its own blood and not be sickened. It’s no surprise, then, that more than seven out of ten people in Europe and also in Canada are opposed to the hunt. In fact, I know many Newfoundlanders who loudly protest the hunt.

The differences between the Canadian seal hunt, a commercial hunt motivated purely by profit and the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world, and other types of culls are obvious. The Canadian hunt takes place over a huge area, in a harsh and unstable environment, and over a short period of time. Sealers have two choices: to stay ship-bound and try to shoot the tiny seals from moving vessels while the seals bob in the ocean on ice floes, or else to slip and slide their way across the ever-shifting ice to club the seals to death. Both of these options mean that the likelihood that the seals are actually dead before they are skinned is extremely small.

I agree that fishermen in Newfoundland face an unhappy situation. Over decades, they’ve seen their cod stocks decline to almost zero. Of course, most people agree that this is almost certainly because year on year, they and other fishermen ignored warnings from the scientific community and over-fished their stocks. Now, they increasingly turn to killing seals to supplement their incomes.

Follow this trajectory into the future and what do we see? Species after species killed to extinction in order to satisfy the short-term economic needs of fishermen. What’s next after the seals? Polar bears?

It’s time for the Canadian Government to stop it’s short-sighted policy of “buying off” the provinces with subsidies that support unsustainable industries and take a meaningful, rational approach to investment that will benefit the environment and Canada’s rural communities for decades to come.

-A Canadian in Europe

Comments

[Amanda Daniell]

What a Marvelously written story.
This is the most concise and intelligent story I have seen. I Just hope somebody in the right position will pay attention. I have forwarded this to everybody on my email list. Thank you.

[amanda townsend]

ITS EVERYONES BUSINESS WHO CARES FOR ANIMALS WHEN THIS BARBARIC KILLING IS ALLOWED TO HAPPEN NO MATTER WHAT COUNTRY THEY LIVE IN , WHY SHOULD CANADIANS BE ALLOWED TO KILL SEALS WHEN THERE IS NO NEED FOR IT , WELL ANSWER IS SIMPLY MONEY I SUPPOSE ALTHOUGH THE SEALS ARE EVERYONES WILDLIFE NOT JUST CANADAS INDIVIDUALS ARE ALLOWED TO PROFIT , WELL HOW WRONG IS THAT ? GOOD JOB IM NOT THERE IS ALL I CAN SAY WOULDNT BE SEALS GETTING CLUBBED.

[Eric Prescott]

Certainly it is worrisome that some humans see animals merely as resources to be harvested in the service of our own interests.

It is important in the midst of all this clamor regarding cruelty, suffering and fishermen trying to eke out a living that we remember animals are not just fauna. They are individual beings who are harmed when they are deprived of their lives. Even if cullers were able to instantly and painlessly kill seals in numbers of this magnitude, it wouldn't change the fact that lives are being taken from sentient beings who have an interest in continued existence.

No human interest other than our own literal survival can justify such behavior.

[mal]

Uh, the seals aren't becoming extinct. Their populations are quite healthy actually. Why don't you guys protest something useful, like the slaughter of HUMAN BEINGS in Darfur and Iraq instead of a bunch of seals, who if they had the chance, wouldn't think twice about injuring or killing a human.

[tim]

hey Mal , there are other groups out there that do protest the wars ,feel free to join one and let us to do our job stopping this cruel act on helpless animals .Why is it there are always people (if I can call them that ) who are always trying to stop us from protecting the enviroment and the creatures that live in it

[Jen]

This seal hunt is UNACCEPTABLE. Please show your support whoever and wherever you are from. It is senseless killing and it is DISGUSTING that in this day and age this is still happening. Loyola Yearn has something to LEARN, being cruel isn't COOL! Loyola, loyal Loyola Hearn, the Minister of the Dept. of Oceans and Fisheries. What a joke, let's get this job cut and stop the Canadian tax dollars from supporting such cruelty. I hope the sealer boats sink, that someone puts a big hole in the bottom of them and these sealers have to start swimming for their OWN lives.

[kearra richards]

i think the people who are carrying out this cruel act that they call a sport need to define sport. Football is sport, cricket is sport, rugby is sport, killing innocent seals for nothing is SICK and also a CRIME, wat fun is it? twisted minds i hate, seal killers i HATE YOU. look into getting a shrink

[linda richards]

what the hell do the seal killers think they are doing? if i could get my hands on them and do to them, the unthinkable im sure i woud be behind bars. Everything and everyone has the right to live and the seals hurt no one only swim, so to all you SICK BASTARDS LEAVE OUR SEALS TO LIVE.

[Roseanne Silva]

The Canadian Government claims that the seal hunt is humane, how can that be when they club and shoot the seals to deal and most of the time as this other person stated are alive when they are skinned and then left to die a painful death in the ocean. How in the hell is that humane I ask you? I don't get it how this Government keeps on defending practices which they know for sure are inhumane but to help their own pockets by whatever taxes they can get from the hunt. People need to wake up now that this government does not care of these seals only for themselves which to me is sickening.

[Brandy]

I am a deep animal lover and i had no idea that hunting of animals especially animals of this kind went on,i can't even explain the heart wrenching disgust i felt when i watched the video and to think that people like this still exsist makes me wonder if they would apall themselves being hunted like this by someone.. An animal is no less a species then a human or anything else and should not have to live like this. They are a part of nature and that should be the only thing that has acsess to them unless any person is helping them for rehabilitative means or for a better cause.. The politcs that are involved in this sickens me and to think they have nothing better to do with there time and have other issues they could stop promoting it like a product to buy an BAN IT FOR GOOD! We have other resources to use we do not need to take it out on defenseless animals to cater to some rich person or people to fill there greedy pockets.... thanks

[Jake]

"I agree that fishermen in Newfoundland face an unhappy situation. Over decades, they’ve seen their cod stocks decline to almost zero. Of course, most people agree that this is almost certainly because year on year, they and other fishermen ignored warnings from the scientific community and over-fished their stocks."

Just to clear up a error in the above statement, the fishermen of Newfoundland and Labrador were telling the Government and scientists for years before the cod moratorium that the cod stocks were in danger. The main reason for the depletion of the cod stocks is foreign overfishing and the increasing use of these factory freezer trawlers.

[Jake]

Posted by: tim | March 28, 2008 at 08:01 PM
"I hope the sealer boats sink, that someone puts a big hole in the bottom of them and these sealers have to start swimming for their OWN lives."

Well congratulations tim, it looks like you got your wish..... Three dead, one missing after seal hunting vessel capsizes in E Canada.... This is why the animal rights groups will never speak for the majority of the people, they put the lives of animals above that of people.

[Jake]

Posted by: Jen | March 29, 2008 at 12:19 AM
"i think the people who are carrying out this cruel act that they call a sport need to define sport. Football is sport, cricket is sport, rugby is sport, killing innocent seals for nothing is SICK and also a CRIME, wat fun is it? twisted minds i hate, seal killers i HATE YOU. look into getting a shrink"

You need the shrink if you think that the fishermen who go to the seal hunt do it for sport. They do it to earn a living for their family's. It's easy to judge them when you have no idea of what it takes to live in a different place than they.

[Jake]

Posted by: Jen | March 29, 2008 at 12:17 AM
"I hope the sealer boats sink, that someone puts a big hole in the bottom of them and these sealers have to start swimming for their OWN lives."

I'd like to see you and tim say this to the faces of the wives and children of the three dead and one missing fishermen. You stated in your other post that, "killing innocent seals for nothing is SICK", well I say that you and tim are the SICK ones for wishing harm on your fellow human beings. Actually, I don't believe that you and tim are human at all.

[Tim]

Jake , this is not about revenge , this is about stopping cruelty,Is it fare to say the fisherman got what they deserved. " No of coarse not ", but they all no the risks of the sea , and my feeling is they shouldn't be there in the first place , so if you want to support a cruel act like this seal hunt remember it comes with a price .

[Dawn]

Just to add to my earlier comment.....
those of you who support the seal hunt - don't try and kid yourselves and others that the men that go out there are loving family men with a wife and 2.4 children at home - this is not the norm, most of these men look forward to this all year - a chance to commit mass animal cruelty with the backing of the government. and lets not forget the hundreds of psychological studies that have found links between violence to animals and violence to humans.
I feel sorry for the good people of Canada - the 70% plus who want this banned. Your country is being vilified around the world right now - so don't forget you are the ones with the voting power, unfortunately everything always comes down to politics in the end.

[tbeth@shaw.ca]

As a Canadian I too am sickened by the seal hunt & have been protesting against it for years. I remember reading in one source that the Canadian government spends approx 6 million dollars annually employing icebreakers to make way for the fishing vessels to gain access to the ice fields. Why not just give this money to the "poor starving fishermen & their starving wives & starving children". (BTW -NO ONE starves in Canada). The seal hunt provides only a few thousand dollars to each hunter annually. If the Maritime community would get it's act together it could make up any financial shortfall in any number of other ways. In any case, the economics of the situation are NO justification whatever for the mass cruelty. The same monetary justification has been made many times in history for the continuation of morally indefensible actions. I am saddened & embarrassed that my Canadian brethren in the east have not been able to rise above their myopic greed & behave in a way that represents the conscience & kindness inherent in most of the rest of Canadians.

[Marceles]

I think the type of brutality that is shown going on right now during the seal hunt is going to create very violent opposition. The sealers have always known how dangerous this is and the families of those who have died will certainly suffer. Doesn't this beg the question "Why continue this dangerous, profit driven, massacre of defenseless pups for fur?" The world community is against it, the harp seals do not belong to Canada, their sealers are dying, the harp seals cannot support this massive slaughter. What possible reason is there for continueing this insanity?

[tim]

Good point Marceles ,these seals do not belong to Canada , We have to stop the market ... The east coast people can find other jobs or let the government take care of them .... Thats why this is going on in the first place .. Most east coast people are on unemployement paid by the government and the people of Canada .. Clubbing seals is a way for income

[Dawn]

Google search all the websites and online petitions you can find and sign them, send an email to the major supermarkets in your area and ask them to boycott Canadian seafood products, get a list of all the ministers,tourism outlets and mayors in the areas of Eastern Canada where this is happening and email them stating you will boycott the country and its products until this stops - all of these things are practical ways to do something - money talks louder than anything else, the money they will lose in tourism will force them into action. I found this text on a website to use in your letters and emails - "While the DFO continues to state that sealing revenues bring 50 million + to Eastern Canada; the economic losses resulting from a long-term boycott of Canada's East Coast may well be in the BILLIONS in the not-too-distant future. Most educated individuals understand that the sealing industry survives by subsidies--carried on the taxpaying backs of the many, for the benefit of the very few.

I will not be visiting Eastern Canada until sealing has ended and is permanently OUTLAWED. In fact, I refuse to buy ANY goods/services from your region, including those from the internet.

I'll be spreading the word far and wide, to friends, family, business associates, religious and civic groups and anyone else who will listen; imploring them to boycott Eastern Canada until the knuckle-dragging brutality of this obscene orgy of death is history".

Sincerely

[Sasha]

I too am saddened by the seal hunt and can't help but want it to end.

But I do NOT hate sealers. I cannot. I have met some who are indeed "loving family men". They don't do this for sport. The three killed recently are just the latest of hundreds, maybe thousands, who have died over the centuries of sealing. Better jobs would be welcome, but are scant in a remote province with a collapsed economy--any suggestions?

Activists like us do have a right to be involved in this. But before interfering with people's lives, please try to at least listen to them and understand their situation. Then decide what action to take.

If anyone would care to hear the sealers' own words, look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH-2LJ8VLhs

I don't plan to ever buy seal fur or other products. But appalling as the hunt is, I am equally sickened by the outpouring of hatred on this blog.

[tim]

Sasha , this is about ending the seal hunt , you can bet if there was a anti seal boat over turned witha loss of crew, the sealers would cheer.The seal hunters will tell any stories, lies , propaganda they can , just listen to them ..quote .. I respect the seals ... ya right as they club a helpless animal and leave it for dead just to make a few dollars on a market that is ending . everybody has sadnes here , but lets look at what this is about , A Canadian government that killed the cod fish stocks from over fishing and now refuse to see the cruelity ina seal hunt and group of coastal fisherman that refuse to give up a tradition

[Bess McBride]

I understand that there is cruelty everywhere in the world, to children, women and animals. But this is the fight for today, and I am compelled to do what I can to try to stop the barbaric hunting of these infant seals. To that end, I have begun my own campaign of blogging to contact my fellow authors, writers, readers and tourists to Canada to ask them to join me, join us, to end this slaughter. You can certainly catch more honey, make more money by marketing ecologically savvy tours to the harp seal nurseries than one ever can with the pittance the fisherman/hunters get for the pelts.

Bess McBride

[Sash]

Hi Rick,

Normally I wouldn't bother replying to a post as ill-informed as yours, but as I have a few spare moments, here goes...

"ifaw is one of the most misleading profit driven "animal rights "groups out there"

- Actually, IFAW is one of the most transparent, efficient non-profit organisations. We've been given a 4 star (of 4) rating by Charity Navigator, an independent charity ratings agency. 76.9% of IFAW's total budget is spent on the programmes and services that it exists to deliver. You can read more about it by clicking the "Charity Navigator" link on the bottom-left of www.ifaw.org.

"if this industry is driven by profit wouldnt you want to maximize that said profit by getting the best product possible? So do u think its even possible to skin a live animal and get a pelt that anyone would buy. So its ludicris to believe that someone would risk thier lives to go out on the ice and not try and get the best pelt possible"

The European Food Safety Authority (an independent authority) recently published a report on the animal welfare aspects of different methods of killing and skinning of seals.

They concluded (based on data from the sealing industry, governments, animal welfare groups, and others) that in its examination of Canada’s commercial seal hunt, the EFSA scientists found that:

- there is strong evidence that, in practice, effective killing does not always occur;

- there is evidence that, during Canada’s commercial seal hunt, animals suffer pain and distress (ie, are inhumanely killed);

- sealers often do not comply with the Canadian regulations in relation to manually checking the skull or administering a blinking reflex test;

- in contrast to current practice, attempts to kill seals should not be made where the seal does not pose a stable target or the sealer may be unbalanced, such as on shifting ice floes;

- seal hunts should be opened up to independent inspections without undue interference.

Read it here: http://www.efsa.eu.int/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178671320476.htm

Also, here’s a report (done for IFAW) by 5 independent veterinarians, who concluded that

“Cranial evaluation of 76 seal carcasses produced data that clearly demonstrates the
occurrence of such suffering. In 17% of the cases observed there were no detectable lesions
of the skull, leading us to conclude that any alteration in consciousness is very unlikely to have occurred as a result of clubbing.” As you say, you’re a biologist, so you do the math.

As for your ludicrous suggestion that the "skinning of a live seal video, that has been proven to be a video fabricated by the ifaw to spread their lies" I invite you to present any evidence whatsoever that this is the case.

IFAW is not the only organisation to document the cruelty of the hunt. You’ll find videos throughout the internet that appear to show seals being skinned alive. However, I agree, while they do appear to show that these animals are alive while they are being skinned they do not constitute evidence. That’s why the veterinary assessment that I mentioned above is a more useful source of information. It clearly shows that this is the case.

Also incredibly cruel are the high “struck and loss” rates, where a seal is hit and injured and it escapes only to die (possibly) a slow, cruel death. You can see footage of this on Sky News.

[Sasha Hughes]

Sorry, the veterinarian report is here:

http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/dfiles/file_95.pdf

[Dylan]

Rick - you've got to be kidding me, you just presented the worlds thinnest argument and possibly the most misguided post to date. Re: skinning of live seals, firstly as a biologist you may be familar with the nature of seals, we're not talking about trying to skin a live Lion here, secondly in these instances the animal has been wounded first so can't exactly fight off whats happening to it but all the same can feel it.
Go away read your text books and come back with a post that actually makes some sense or else go find another website to spout your uneducated rubbish if this one offends you so much.

[tim]

Ricks not a biologist,if he was he wouldn't be saying that he is probably a sealers telling more lies to cover up the cruelity of the hunt , It's amazing what these people say and do . I am sure they no this hunt is comming to an end

[Carla]

All I can say is that that 3 killed is not enough. Just 3??? My friend and I have been praying to Saint Francis that ALL THE SEALERS DROWN during this massacre. Drowning is actually an easy death for them, compared to what they do those babies.

[Jake]

Well Rick if you wish to help the children in Darfur , you free to do so. So one here is going to stop you. But if you were advocating for pedofiles, we would certainly be against you. Get it? These sealers are cruel murderers, that is all they are.

[Diana]

There is no starvation in Canada. As a diplomat´s daughter I lived in Canada for 5 years and did not see anyone starving in the streets. What a ridiculous commment! Hunger in Canada?? The fishermen are hungry? What a bunch of bull. Just so you know after Canada my father was sent to Bangladesh. People in Bangladesh starve to death. They die right in front of you. People in India starve to death, people in Brazil starve to death. Did you know that Canada is part of the G8? The 8 RICHEST countries in the world?

[Matt M]

Honestly, IFAW is one of the better animal rights organizations (for example, it's not on activistcash.com), and they aren't wishing for the deaths of human beings like I'm sure Captain Watson of the Pirate Society is.

However, the people on this blog crying out for the murders of humans to protect seals is pretty insane. Good to know those people will never be in a position to change the hunt in any shape or form, nor hopefully be in any positions of power.

Foolish "boycotts" of Canadian purchases and trips that probably wouldn't have happened anyway have no impact. Canada's economy isn't driven by tourism, it's driven by raw materials like oil and minerals (confirmed by a quick google!). Your need to drive your car will outweigh your thirst for human blood (in all but those complete diehard animal fanatics like in South Park), so go ahead and refuse to take that trip you never planned.

One thing that everybody should follow is to carefully read information on both sides of ANY issue. This includes the seal hunt. Sadly, advertising and propaganda has influenced human decisionmaking since long before this became newsworthy. People see cuteness, and think "MUST GIVE MONEY TO HSUS AND PETA AND COMPANY!"... The same people of course who will follow the pack for the rest of their life.

Oh and Carla, either you are an easily manipulated sadist with the mind of a child, or you should be declared legally insane. Either way, you should be out of society,

matthew4@gmail.com

[Don]

You have no clue to how important the seal hunt is do you ya want to stop the hunt well just as well stop all killing in the world stop killing chickens pigs cows all animals seals are part of the food chain whats the big deal seals are shot not clubbed for one.seals that are dead act like fish they are part fish and nerves make them twitch long after they are dead.stopping the seal hunt is crazy did you see the damage they are doing to the ocean there is hundreds of millions of seals they are destroying salmon cod and what ever fish they come in contact with seals will kill a 30 pound salmon only to eat the liver.so what use is there for them they are a threat to the fishery every where and I think seals should of been all killed off years ago fish is a large food source for people all around the world so why you want to take that away from people.why don't ya go after mc donalds look at all the cows killed so they can sell hamburgers .listen I see all you protesters have no clue to how important the seal hunt is so get the facts straight before ya shoot ya mouth about things you no nothing about.red blood is easy to see on white ice wow so what go look in a slaugther house and see the mess there wow get over it! seals are cute when pups but so are chicks when they hatch .when newfoundlanders hunt seals the whole seal is used not just their furs or just their livers its all used for many things mostly food so whats wrong with that ya cant judge people now for things people done to seals hundreds of years ago.the seals are destroying nf fishery by storm seals are multiplying way to fast they eat and kill 10 time or should say 50 times the amount of fish like cod,salmon etc that newfoundland fisherman harvests each year.they depleted cod and salmon and are moving on to trout herring, capelin etc which are food fish for salmon cod and even whales.so do you now understand how important the seal hunt is ,seals do one thing kill and they give no benefit other than food source for people so if ya realized how much they destroy you would think differently.oh ya don't kill seals they so cute now thats bullshit .lets kill them and feed the hungry thats a better idea .seals are a infection in the ocean or like a parasite that got to be stopped or even slowed down.so please forward this to ya supporters if you are a person with any brains and please stop the hate crap and stop busting Newfoundlanders balls ok thanks!

Everyone is able to have an opinion about the killing of seals but you and the protesters are forcing their's on other people thats not right !

[Julia]

Well I am sending my comments from Switzerland. Have been protesting against this atrocity since years!Cannot believe that despite facts and videos proves they are still lying by saying that this mass murdering of innocent seal pups..is humane!!!...they go on and on with those sadistic killers on the ice?! PLEASE STOP THIS FOR GOOD! The whole world of animal lovers have enough to be taken as fools...