Brussel 25 april, Europese parlementariërs hebben krachten gebundeld met dierenwelzijnsorganisaties uit heel Europa om bij de Europese commissie aan te dringen op een onmiddellijk verbod op zeehondenproducten nadat vers bewijs naar boven is gekomen voor wrede en verkwistende praktijken tijdens de zeehondenjacht in Canada die nu nog gaande is.

  Europe plans massive protest against seal hunt, from The National

"Animal welfare activists will stage demonstrations across Europe tomorrow to put pressure on the European Environment Commissioner to ban the import of Canadian seal products."

Canada's seal hunt wraps up, From ABC Online

"Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans has officially closed the last and largest phase of the seal hunt off Newfoundland and Labrador. Officials say participation for this year's hunt was low, mainly because of the high price of fuel and the low price of pelts, which were selling for about half of what they were a year ago."

Ban on spiked clubs urged in Canada seal hunt, From MSNBC

"The premiers of two Canadian territories are calling for a ban on the use of the hakapik, a spiked club used by hunters to kill harp seals."

Seal activists' ship remains in custody, from the Kingston Whig-Standard

"The federal Fisheries Department still has custody of the Farley Mowat, an anti-seal hunt ship that was seized off Cape Breton earlier this month."

  Canadian seal hunters bemoan low prices, from UPI

"Some Canadian seal hunters in Newfoundland say they aren't sure low pelt prices and high gas costs make going to sea worthwhile later this month.

"While hunting resumed Monday off New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the upcoming hunt along Newfoundland's northeastern shore isn't as appealing to seasonal fishermen, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported."

More training needed for sealers: vet, from CBC News

"New rules adopted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to ensure seals are killed humanely should be accompanied by better training for sealers, says a member of the veterinary panel that looked into the issue.

"A group of nine veterinarians from Canada, the U.S. and Europe met in August 2005 to look at ways to minimize or eliminate suffering of animals during the seal hunt. One of the recommendations was a three-step process for killing, including bleeding the animal after it has been clubbed or shot."

Reader is against the seal hunt, from the Coaster

"I am asking you at take a hard look at yourselves and your leaders. Why are you allowing a barbaric act such as the clubbing to death of baby animals in the presence of their mothers to take place in your community? Babies that have not yet had a chance to take their first swim.

"It is not going to provide you with any long lasting solutions for your life long problems: for example; high unemployment, lack of training and opportunities. Rather "clubbing" your local politicians will bring about these positive changes. If politicians started to do their job, think creatively and work, it would help you to find dignifying work and repair Canada's image."

In what may prove to be some of the most violent footage of the 2008 Canadian commercial seal hunt to date, the International Fund for Animal Welfare has posted this short video of two seal pups clearly in agony as they are attempted to be killed by rifle fire and in the last case a subsequent clubbing.  Please consider donating today to help IFAW end this cruel hunt once and for all.

Barbaric Blood-Letting Seal Hunt in Canada, from Life in the Fast Lane

"British reporter Danny Penman from the Daily Mail spent nearly a week in Nova Scotia, Canada, to investigate this year’s ruthless slaughter at close range as the horror unfolded.

"'The baby seal looked into the eyes of her executioner. Barely a flicker of emotion shows on the fisherman’s face as he smashes a steel-tipped club into her mouth. She lay whimpering on the ice, blood pouring from her jaw and nose.'

'But she wasn’t yet dead, so the sealer hit her in the face another 4 times before slamming a hooked “hakapik” club into her stomach and dragging her across the ice towards the ship.'"

Editorial: Canada is not so caring, from the Brantford Expositor

"The seal hunt, nearing 300,000 slaughtered babies per year for the garment industry, has increased drastically since the Conservatives took power. Most people who do this hunt are far batter off financially than many Canadian households. The hunt is not needed for the survival if the hunter. This hunt is only needed for trading purposes with Asian countries, soon to be the only countries that will allow any seal part into their lands, as we are one of the few remaining countries to allow dog and cat furs into our homes."

Mourners gather in small town to remember sealers, from CTV

"Mourners gathered Friday as the bodies of three sealers, who perished at sea last weekend, were carried into the town hall of Cap-Aux-Meules, a small community located in Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que.

"A fourth sealer is still missing and presumed dead after the victims' fishing vessel, the L'Acadien II, capsized during a rescue operation by the Canadian Coast Guard last Saturday off the coast of Cape Breton."

Three Dutch members of parliament and dozens of school children participated in IFAW's campaign for a European ban on Seal products on 1 April 2008 in The Hague, The Netherlands.  The parliamentary members from the liberal, social, and social democratic parties demonstrated their support by climbing up a ladder to place puzzle pieces in the form of European  countries on a large billboard map, symbolizing the European countries that currently  do not have a ban on seal products.  The children cheered and waved European flags in the air as each member took on the brave task of climbing the ladder to the top.

On Monday the IFAW team continued to document Canada's commercial seal hunt off the east coast of Cape Breton. We saw four boats; two medium size boats and two small skiffs, along with the Coast Guard vessel. The boats were moving through the ice pans searching for the young pups.  Although this is my seventh year documenting Canada's commercial seal hunt, one can never be completely prepared for the cruelty that we witness. We documented sealers both shooting seals from their boats and clubbing them on the ice.

I saw animals being shot from boats and injured; these young seals were not killed quickly or humanely like the Canadian government claims they are. One animal was crawling around on the ice bleeding for over a minute before the boat arrived and a sealer jumped down onto the ice pan to kill it with a club.  It never ceases to amaze me that sealers see a seal crawling around on the ice suffering, yet they don't act quickly and shoot the animal again to put it out of it's misery.

IFAW documents the seal hunt for a few days a year and we can only be filming one boat at time. Yet every year we see animals being shot or clubbed and left to suffer. We see animals hooked and skinned alive, as we did yesterday. The most striking image from yesterday's footage involved a seal that was injured and then hooked in the face and dragged back to the boat. We were moving between boats and came across a sealer on the ice with what appeared to be a dead seal. He started writing in the snow with a bloody finger; the message was "F@ck Off".

As we were circling to get a better shot of his message to us, the seal that was on the ice behind him, tried to sit up! This was clearly not swimming reflex, this animal was still conscious. The sealer did not respond by taking action to quickly kill the seal as required by the Marine Mammal Regulations, instead he hooked it in the face and then proceeded to drag the animal across the ice and onto the boat, still alive. What we document out here is unacceptable and the world needs to see what only a few people have the ability to view in person. IFAW is here to document the hunt so that the world can see that this hunt is inherently cruel and is not monitored or enforced like the government claims. 

Although the hunt in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence is coming to a close, IFAW will stay on another day or so to try to document as long as we can. The weather was bad today so we could not fly, but we will try again on Wednesday. We are here so that the world can see what really happens during the world's largest marine mammal hunt.

Deze blog is geschreven door Yvette Brook, beleidsmedewerker IFAW Nederland.

Gisteren hebben wij een geslaagde actie gevoerd op het Plein in Den Haag voor het instellen van een Europees handelsverbod. Kamerleden Lutz Jacobi (PVDA), Krista van Velzen (SP) en Janneke Snijder (VVD) zijn een ladder op geklommen en hebben puzzelstukken geplaatst op een grote kaart (3 bij 4 meter!) van Europa, met als achtergrond een zeehond. Deze puzzelstukken staan symbool voor de Europese landen die een handelsverbod hebben in zeehondenproducten: ons Nederland, België en Slovenië. Janneke Snijder is drie jaar geleden met ons mee geweest op het ijs in Canada waar we haar en oud PVDA Kamerlid Joanneke Kruijsen de   jacht met eigen ogen hebben laten aanschouwen. En ook Krista van Velzen is getuige geweest van de gruwelijkheden op het ijs.  Dit heeft uiteindelijk geleid tot een handelsverbod in Nederland in zeehondenprodcuten!

Kinderen van basisschool de Startbaan waren gisteren ook aanwezig en deze jonge dierenbeschermers juichten de Kamerleden toe met Europese vlaggetjes! Twee leerlingen hebben vervolgens handtekeningen en tekeningen van zeehonden aan de Kamerleden overhandigd. De Kamerleden gaven allen aan dat zij ook vinden dat er een Europees handelsverbod ingesteld moet worden en benadrukten dat door een handtekening te zetten onder de grote afbeelding van Europa met de zeehond.  Het ANP, de Telegraaf en diverse lokale kranten maakten verslag en foto's van de actie en al met al is het een zeer inspirerende ochtend geworden! De rest van de dag heeft ons team veel handtekeningen opgehaald van bezorgde omstanders die zeker ook de zeehondenjacht willen doen beëindigen.  Deze handtekeningen zullen aan minister Verburg worden overhandigd die wordt gevraagd erop aan te dringen bij de Europese Commissie op het instellen van een handelsverbod.

Fijn om te weten dat er zoveel mensen de jacht verafschuwen. Helemaal als je dan na zo'n actie weer terug op kantoor komt en leest wat onze collega's ter plaatse op het ijs meegemaakt hebben. Alle beelden van toen ik er zelf was komen weer boven......  We moeten met z'n allen deze jacht stoppen. Voor nu en altijd!

Foto's (klik op de fotos voor een grooter beeld)

     

Stop the Seal Hunt, Kerry McCarthy, Labour Member of Parliament for Bristol East

"Have just been doing a bit of research on the Canadian seal hunt (yes, I know - a fun way to spend a Saturday night!). For some good info, see here: www.stopthesealhunt.com"

Also found this IFAW press release, which tells us that in Canada seals are classed as fish, rather than as sentient marine mammals that can experience pain, fear and suffering - which I thought was interesting (not to mention highly convenient!)"

Canadian Seal Killers Said to be Breaking New Law, Critter News

"Well, that didn't take long. The Canadian government's new requirement that hunted seals be actually dead before they skin them is already being ignored."

Ice Blocking Canada's Seal Hunt, Blue Marble Blog (Mother Jones)

"Good news. Thick ice is slowing sealing boats from reaching the baby harp seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, reports Planet Ark. Consequently, only three pups out of a quota of 275,000 were killed the first day. This after last year's "hunt" was affected by a lack of ice. The Canadian government has promised the slaughter will be more humane this year. How? After a hunter shoots or clubs a seal, he now must check its eyes to ensure it is dead, and if not, the animal's main arteries must be cut.

"Okay, let's get clear about this. That does not qualify as humane."

Harp seal hunt is barbaric, travel writer Ian Middleton

"I am absolutely disgusted by the cruelty of Canada’s commercial baby harp seal hunt. As you are aware over the next few weeks, more than a quarter of a million seals will be killed for unnecessary fur products. Nearly all of these seals will be less than three months old. Many will suffer painful and lingering deaths. This is unacceptable cruelty and the UK and Europe’s role in the trade in seal products is allowing this to happen."