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.

Comments

[Sylvia W.]

I am totally disgusted and heart-broken after watching the short video footage. How can some call this a "humane" hunt?? It is quite obvious that the seal is suffering and in pain after the first partially-missed shot. My question is, why, if the sealer is a so-called "professional", didn't he get off the boat right away and put the seal out of its misery when its obvious even to the naked eye that the seal is suffering, disoriented and in pain? Instead the sealer lets go another salve of shots into the already heavily bleeding animal and then finally clubs the seal over the head a couple of times to finish the job. This brutal, cruel and barbaric raping of living creatures for pure greed and profit must stop. I will not set foot in Canada, nor buy any Canadian products until this mass massacre of sentient marine mammals is stopped for good.

[A. Wojcik]

Awful to watch... heartbreaking and beyond cruel. Surely this footage will convince the Canadian government that this can not be, and never will be, a humane slaughter. How can Canadian leaders and the heartless sealers look at their children and grandchildren and know they are doing this to seals?

Keep the pressure on and thank you for documenting it.

[Matt M.]

Why doesn't somebody videotape all the humane kills? I'm sure more than 2 seals were killed, so did you just give us footage of the seals that suffered the most and cut out the ones that died immediately?

[Nicki & Bob M.]

What can you say? How evil, malicious & repulsive is this practice. Not needed, not benefitng mankind ( the poor and hungry don't benefit) only heartless business "Fat Cats" profit!!. The second seal lay writhing in agony for minutes before someone on foot then proceeded to "Humanely" club the seal to death five times after it had already been shot at least twice and left to writhe around on the ice in agony. Then the sealer on foot arrived. God these people repulse us and make us ashamed to be human. Of all the creatures on earth man is the only who hunts and kills for pleasure NOT necessity!! Canada should be blacklisted especially since they themselves admit there is no market for these furs and they have excess of fur. As we do against all animal trades be it Africa, China, Japan etc so should we treat Canada. Despicable!!

[tim]

There is no other way to discribe this , it's just cruel

[A. Wojcik]

Matt M.... humane kills??! Isn't that an oxymoron?
I wonder why veterinarians don't club our dogs and cats over the head when we need to humanely euthanize them?

[Charlotte Selig]

I am appalled at the continuation of this Neanderthal practice- personally I hope all the sealers are repaid in full for the brutality they mete out at some point in their lives. I would not lift a finger to help one of them even if they were starving in the streets. In fact,I would not be sorry to hear that someone had returned the actions to them that they have taken on the animals- it would be their karma coming home to roost. It is likely a good thing that I am not present at these hunts, for I could not guarantee the safety of those barbaric sealers- it would take everything in me to not show them how barbaric I can be when I see the suffering they dole out. As sad as it is to say regarding the loss of human lives, I have to add that I was not sorry when I heard the news of a loss of one of the sealers' ships this season. They are bloody bastards for what they do, they do not regret what they do, and they are taking chances with their safety as they beat poor defenseless animals inhumanely. They knew the risks they took. I have been boycotting Canadian products for the past several years, will continue to do so, as well as refusing to ever set foot in Canada until this is ended.

[Tooyaah]

The innocent and helpless baby seals - that have been barbaric tortured and killed by poor miserable losers, who are NOTHINGS in a civilized society, disdained and be spit from all women of the world and humans with a healthy brain -
theese seals are representive for all the other tortured seals in this cruel brutal massacre.
They loose their bodies and they die in awfull ways, but they will be forever, forever with love in the hearts from all people who watches this in the whole world.
And I swear, no one, no one, who saw this, will this forget for the rest of his life.
And also we don't forget this is Canada's disgrace...
A few brainless babymurderers representive for their country show
the rest of the world, what is Canada !!!
We will never, never travel to this country and we will never buy only one Canadian product.
Feel ashamed, Mr. Harper.

And we feel sorry for all the canadians who are against the barbaric massacres, too !!!
Please, don't stop to fight !!!
You have a big support from the whole world, from people who have hearts and feelings and a healthy sane brain /mind.

[AWojcik]

Nope, not a vegan or animal extremist, but quickly getting there. As the "dominant species", I don't know why some people think that means we can inflict as much pain and suffering on animals as we want. Baby seals aren't even eaten, they are killed for fur that no one even wants. Being the most intelligent species is no excuse for cruelty.

I am fully aware of the abuses placed on farm animals, and also understand not wanting to eat lethal chemicals, but do you realize that you are eating feces, antibiotics, pus, spinal cord, salmonella, and E. coli to mention a few things? That doesn't sound much more appetizing to me. I will happily go eat some lettuce now... good advice.

I also find it interesting the way some people get so defensive toward people who show compassion to animals. It has nothing to do with "growing a pair"... Hulk Hogan is an animal advocate. Maybe they have never had the chance to get to know one. ??

[Marceles Fisher]

To Matt: You don't eat these animals as evidenced by the thousands of carcasses on the ice and that end up on shore from sloppy attempts to kill them. I don't eat any meat for the reasons you mentioned. There is no humane slaughter. There is only humane euthanasia. Why can't sealing proponents come up with any viable logic? Because there is no justification for this. Many wealthy individuals have actually offered to pay these sealers to stop, yet, they refuse. One has to question why. Many have said they enjoy it, the seals are vermin or rodents. These are the most ignorant people on the planet carrying out the most sadistic slaughter imaginable. Justice will be served one way or the other. You can't commit such acts and not have Karma come down on you hard.

[Marceles Fisher]

To Matt: You don't eat these animals as evidenced by the thousands of carcasses on the ice and that end up on shore from sloppy attempts to kill them. I don't eat any meat for the reasons you mentioned. There is no humane slaughter. There is only humane euthanasia. Why can't sealing proponents come up with any viable logic? Because there is no justification for this. Many wealthy individuals have actually offered to pay these sealers to stop, yet, they refuse. One has to question why. Many have said they enjoy it, the seals are vermin or rodents. These are the most ignorant people on the planet carrying out the most sadistic slaughter imaginable. Justice will be served one way or the other. You can't commit such acts and not have Karma come down on you hard.

[Bernard Peddle]

6 Million - The number of Seals around NL at last count.
300 Million - The number of Pine Martins around NL at last count.
Why don't you stop protesting the so called inhumane seal hunt already and start focusing your energy on the species that are actually in trouble, o wait that wouldn't garner the same media attention that your getting now and then you wouldn't get as much money from donations.
People say that sealing only benefits the Fat Cats in the industry, so what. As of now all you’re doing is drawing attention to a pointless cause. Guess what there are plenty of other animals getting slaughtered in other inhumane ways and nobody seems to care about that, maybe it’s because the animals I'm talking about don't really appeal to celebrities who are donating the big bucks to fund this crap.
Here is an idea why don't you try to stop the inhumane slaughter of humans before you, protest the slaughter of seals. O, wait now, I know why it’s because the people killing people will kill you too, but here in NL we aren't allowed to attack you idiots when you try and stop us from doing our jobs and feeding our families.
Also to anyone who is happy that the sealers died in that accident, don’t expect the world to hold back its glee when one of your protestors boats gets stuck in the ice and nobody comes to help.

[Bernard P]

300 Million - The number of Pine Martins around NL at last count.

There is an error here the line is supposed to read 300 - The number of Pine Martins around NL at last count.

[NormachristineC]

Matt M is very typical of the kind of hissy-fitting pro Canadian government, pro commercial seal hunt supporter I've had the misfortune to come across when visiting Canadian press web sites like Newfoundland & Labrador St John's newspaper, The Telegram. The number of posts on that paper's discussion forums are full of contempt for anyone who dares to post an anti seal hunt comment. It seems Matt M has taken a leaf out of their book with his own couldn't give a damn attitude on here. Suffice to say, I don't think the majority of posters on this IFAW run site can count on Matt to tell a friend, who are more likely than not to be unacceptably cruel sealers anyway, to speak out against Canada's shameful, image blackening seal hunts. A case of tell me who your friends and I'll tell you what you are in Matt's case don't you think.

[Matt M.]

Marceles: Most of the meat isn't eaten, no, but it does exist. I've half a mind to go to the waterfront and buy some meat myself when they come back if they still do that. Seal flipper pie!

And care to prove somebody said they enjoy hunting because seals are vermin and rodents?
You can't, because nobody did.
Stop making things up.

And you know what? Has anybody offered 16 million a year indefinitely? Any offers of paying off the sealers for life? Anybody?

Wojcik, if the FDA has approved it, I'd eat it. Obviously there are other things in the meat than pure meat, I can accept that. I don't get sick, and when it's barbecued anything dangerous is dead except for rare cases (as rare as cyanide-tainted produce).

Being the dominant species means in a Darwinian sense that we are the strongest, and we can do whatever we need to survive. If you'd like to get into an asceticist discussion fine, but I enjoy comforts of living. If killing is done within the standards of unbiased institutions and administrations (like for example the WWF, which states that the hunt is sustainable), I'm all for it. It's really not like it matters how much suffering we prevent anyway. Nature is based on pain and suffering, it warns us to danger and look at any wild animal eat another. If you'd like to say human lives are equal to animal lives, well, then, why are we acting so merciful? Let's go tear some legs off of things! I however have the view that humans are better. Not because God said we were, but because we're the strongest evolutionarily. So sure, you can be merciful, but let's not forget who's really in charge. Killing is what we're made to do.

I am perfectly willing to let vegans and vegetarians be without disturbing them or poking fun at their lifestyle. However when they try to impress their values on other people, that's when I get annoyed. When they start showing how glad they are that people died, that's when I get pissed.

Honestly, it's like evangelical Christianity or Islam. You want a bunch of nutjobs knocking on your door trying to convert you, vegans? That's what it feels like and really that's what it is. So get over yourselves and find something useful to do, like planting gardens or something.

[NormachristineC]

Matt M: It's now 11.30pm in the UK so the time shown of my post, 5.30pm., is out by about 5 to 6 hours. As its past my bed-time you'll have to forgive me for not wanting to stay up replying to you at length. Briefly though, there is a wealth of information on this IFAW Seal Hunt Blog site, including filmed footage of this year's Business As Usual inhumane seal hunt cruelty. Together with accounts from journalists who have reported on what they saw and think about this year's so-called humane slaughter of defenceless, terrified seal pups. Just because you and your pro seal hunt buddies haven't been moved by all that information as to why these hunts need to be put an end to doesn't mean to that I haven't got an argument. I just don't want to go over all the counter-arguments on here for bringing an end to this cruel, unnecessary and unsustainable slaughter of Canada's tourism attracting marine mammals - it's seal herds.

[tim]

There is no use trying to talk to Matt , he is the result of not being shown love and being loved ...besides this is about stopping the seal hunt .... not trying to change the mind of a person that lives to be difficult

[lynda D'Ambrose]

SO MANY PEOPLE ARE WORKING SO HARD TO END THIS SICK ACT OF INHUMANITY.THIS WILL SOON END .THE PARTY IS OVER FOR THESE SICK SOCIETY MISFITS...THE CANADIAN FISHING INDUSTRY IS GOING DOWN DOWN DOWN AND TO ANY AND ALL OF YOU LOW LIFE SAELERS WHO ENJOY TORTURING THESES HELPLESS ANIMALS WHAT GOES AROUND IS COMING AROUND.KARMA IS GOING TO COME YOUR WAY. PERHAPS TONY SOPRANO SHOULD PAY A VISIT TO MR.HEARN.

[Matt M.]

Tim, I don't live to be difficult. Remind me who is trying to ruin the lives of the sealers?? Hmm? Who is trying to impress their crazy vegan morals on people?? Hmm?

[Bernard P]

To: Lynda D'Ambrose

Inhumane acts to animals do not justify murder, also I doubt if a fictional character will visit anyone, why don’t you read a book and learn a bit of history so that you could reference more than pop culture in your arguments.
As a religious studies student knowing the way Karma acts from studying the scripture I think there may be some serious problems with your statement, also writing with CAPS LOCK ON only makes you look like a kid who has no idea how to prove a point other than knowing the fact that big is eye-catching.
Repetition of a word is also a very poor way to prove a point in an adult argument, unless you’re trying to sound like an evil villain from a movie. Also the correct grammar for your sentence “SICK SOCIETY MISFITS” would be sick social misfits, I know English grammar can be hard but I’m sure you’ll get it eventually. Also in reference to the preceding they are not social misfits anyway, they are all in fact functioning members of their society who are working to support their families.
I sincerely doubt and in some individual cases know that sealers do not take pleasure in “TORTURING THESES HELPLESS ANIMALS” I can say this because there are members of my family who are sealers, there is no pleasure in it for them and there is no torture. Torture is defined as the infliction of pain on someone as a punishment or means of coercion. I don’t think they are punishing the seals or trying to extract any information from them so this word doesn’t really fit, try to find a different one please.
One more note on your poor grammar “WHAT GOES AROUND IS COMING AROUND” is actually, what goes around comes around, so that’s just another thing that makes me doubt your intelligence. However I will give you the benefit of the doubt, these are all common mistakes made by people who do not have a good handle on the English language such as ESL students here at MUN, so if that’s the case sorry (no insult intended honest).
To conclude I will state that if you choose to reply to my argument please do so in an intelligent manner with the cap lock off. Try to refrain from insulting me personally or insulting my family, although I won’t be upset or surprised if you do. You might want to try attacking weak points in my argument instead of attacking me, this will make it seem as though you have half a brain and may ever garner a little respect from me. One last thing after you read this please wait an hour or more before you reply, an argument that is formed in the heat of the moment generally has far to many weak points, also if and when you do reply write the answer in a word processing suite so that you can edit, spell check and grammar check it before you submit it.

Have a nice day.
Happy Hunting

[lisa]

Maybe someone should club the sealers and the Coast Guard that protects the hunters like that. See how they like it. I pray they all burn in hell. How can Wojcik say they are humane. I think hes on the wrong side and the wrong page. I have been involved with saving the seals for years and I think IFAW, Seashepherd and others like us know what the hell we are seeing and what we have seen. SO Wojcik, move to Canada and become an ignorant backwards F..ed up sealer.
Idiot

[A Wojcik]

Thanks for figuring that out, Lisa. I am all about respect and kindness to animals... live and let live. The seal hunt is cruel and unnecessary. Just curious... what kind of things have you been doing to help over the past few years to save seals? I wish I could do more.

[Matt M.]

Notice how I never pray for the deaths or suffering of people. That is what separates our arguments and makes me all the more human, despite how "humane" you are.

Paul Watson sinks ships for a living. I believe activistcash.com has a nice little dossier on him. Read it sometime.

So carry on, I bet you've made tons of cash 'protecting' the seals. I'm quite glad people like you aren't in politics - oh wait, they were... Stalin, Hitler.. Sorry, I forgot about those people.

[Bernard P]

To Lisa:
Yet again I have been given the opportunity to give a commentary about just what is wrong with the average seal hunt protestor. At this point in time I have chosen to direct my attention towards our new fanatic Lisa. The way that this post will work is as follows, first I will breakdown each sentence in her post and analyse the logic or lack thereof within it. Then to finish off I’ll do a breakdown on one of the quotes that Paul Watson made and generalize it them to the lives of the reader. Hopefully if you read this with an open mind you will be able to spot the truths and see just who it is that is “an ignorant backwards fuck up”
“Maybe someone should club the sealers and the Coast Guard that protects the hunters like that. See how they like it.” So as we can all see this is suggesting that violence is the answer to this issue, personally I would prefer if violence were not used, it’s that little thing called murder. That’s what is being suggested within this statement, killing another human being because you don’t agree with what their culture does, that idea has never gotten society very far now has it. As for the coast guard they are there to uphold the law and when it’s broken by either side they step in to stop said lawbreaking and uphold peace. I don’t see why you would want to club them along with the sealers. They have nothing to do with your cause.
“I pray they all burn in hell.” You poor soul I really do pity you, your prayers are going to go unanswered. Praying for someone else to die violates a religious rule from almost every religion if not all that I have studied here at MUN (just a reminder I’m a religious studies student) and wishing that they go to hell well that truly makes no sense. I’m pretty sure that there is nothing in the commandments sent from what I’m supposing is a Christian God that would have these men and women on the ice sent to hell; however hate and the desire to kill as well as prayer for the suffering of others are all frowned upon. I hope that when you realize just what you have said here that you retract this statement it’s only serving to make you look bad.
“How can Matt say they are humane? I think he’s on the wrong side and the wrong page.” First of all I have for my convenience chose to ignore the fact that originally you blamed the wrong person in your statement. I have changed the names accordingly. It’s possible that Matt can say they are humane because he realizes that not all of the kills are done in the way these few videos portray them to the public. As for what you think quite honestly I don’t care what you think or how you feel I care about the facts. Like this quote from the WWF about their stand on the seal hunt “In regard to the commercial hunt for harp seals on the East Coast of Canada. As long as the commercial hunt for harp seals off the coast of Canada is of no threat to the population of over 5 million harp seals, there is no reason for WWF Canada to reconsider its current priorities and actively oppose the annual harvest of harp seals.” This can be found at the following link http://www.panda.org/faq/response.cfm?hdnQuestionId=11320030954082. That is a fact, not a thought or a feeling but a fact, so if he is on the wrong side then you’re also saying that the WWF is on the wrong side. That’s just a little fact that I found to back up my thoughts. You should try that in your next argument.
“I have been involved with saving the seals for years and I think IFAW, Seashepherd and others like us know what the hell we are seeing and what we have seen.” Well let’s begin, for such an informed activist it surprises me that you would misspell Sea Shepherd’s. Stupidity aside I commend you for your achievements, you’ve succeeded in doing nothing, I sincerely doubt that you have actually stopped one seal from dying, what you have done is protest a hunt that you do not understand using videos that do not represent the actual hunt, congrats. “I think” there it is again you think well my dear quite frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. You and others like you may know exactly what you are seeing, however, do you understand, no you do not. You think it’s all fun and games for the sealers out on the ice, well guess again its not. It’s how those men and women make a living, it’s a job, its commercial fishery not sport fishery. Its dangerous work and its made all the more dangerous by extremists like you threatening them whilst they try to feed their families. Tell me something how would that make you feel?
“SO Matt, move to Canada and become an ignorant backwards Fucked up sealer.” To some extent I have to make allowances for the errors that were made in this hasty comment but I just have to point out that in your original message you generalized by the persons name where they were from, just because his name is Wojick you automatically assumed that there was no way that he could live in Canada. That’s just the first problem here. Stereotyping is bad, that’s a fact that everyone can agree on. Building from this we can see how this entire sentence is pointless and flawed. The last figures on Canada’s population put it at about 33,390,141 that’s a lot of people so let’s narrow it down even more and see if that will help, let’s go with just the population of my home province of Newfoundland & Labrador its population was last put at 508,099. Even then that’s a lot of people to generalize as ignorant backwards Fucked up sealers and I think that everyone in this forum can agree to that. This statement only goes to show how ignorant you are. It is clear from your statements that you have never actually met a sealer because they are, no matter how much you try to make them seem otherwise, normal people. They are not the cruel barbaric cavemen that you like to make them out to be, as a matter of fact they are all contributing members of society who pay taxes and work for a living. Herein we see the big problem, as soon as we as a society start to view one group of people as less worthy or sub-human that allows people to justify mal-treatment of them. How do you think it was done with slavery or the holocaust, the people in charge made the targets of their discrimination seem sub-human to the general public, thus allowing them to get away with murder. That’s what you are trying to do here and whether or not you support the seal hunt you have to agree that that is wrong.
To conclude this argument I am now going to analyse a quote from Paul Watson "The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recognizes that the deaths of four sealers is a tragedy but Sea Shepherd also recognizes that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seal pups is an even greater tragedy." Okay so what he is saying here is that seal pups losing their lives is a greater tragedy than four men losing their lives and their wives mothers and children having to deal with the loss of their loved ones. These are the remarks that I was talking about earlier, this comment makes it seem as though the pups are more human than the sealers and so deserve more mourning. Not only that but these are the words come across as cold and insensitive, he doesn’t seem to be a caring individual to me, actually his comments could be considered inhumane. That being said I will end with some questions. Seeing as all men are created equal in the eyes of god and for the benefit of the doubt assuming that Captain Watson is a Christian would it not be the same to say that the loss of any four peoples lives in any accident in any part of the world is not as bad as the deaths of seal the pups during the hunt? Or maybe Paul Watson believes that sealers specifically are a lower form of life than seal pups. Either way my question is. Do you the people who are reading this know of anyone who died recently in an accident? Well just so you know that’s not as bad as the seal hunt so what are you crying about. Now in a tribute to Lisa I have to say damn that shit is fucked up.
Idiot

Have a Nice Day
Happy Hunting

[Beth]

Happy Hunting .... ya happy hunting for another job... and not government asistance

[Bernard Peddle]

Well Beth my only question would have to be this. Did you even read my arguments or were you to limited in your reading ability to process the facts that I put forward? Picking on my catch phrase is a poor way to try and hinder the effectiveness of my arguments. As for the point of your post it leaves a lot to be desired maybe you should have thought about what you were going to say before you said it. Also where are the hard facts to back up your statement? Posting links that show where you got your facts is an important part of a well structured argument and until you can provide this your arguments will have no credit. Your statement “Happy Hunting .... ya happy hunting for another job... and not government assistance” is lacking in many areas, it lacks a preparing statement such as “the seal hunt will soon be discontinued so…” actually your statement makes no sense whatsoever even with this preparing statement before it. The only possible answer is that in your delusional state of mind you think that the seal hunt is going to end sometime soon (even though these protests have been going on since the 1970’s) and that when it does the sealers who will be out of work don’t deserve to get E.I even though they pay their taxes just like everyone else. Well the only reason that you would think like that is if you were somehow convinced that sealers were less deserving of assistance than other people, that by the way is discrimination and it is wrong. Yet again another protestor has proven to me that they have absolutely no compassion for their fellow humans. What a shame.
Happy Hunting
Have a Nice Day

[Wes Fox]

I understand the need for sustainable-hunting. This is not the way God would have intended for His creatures to be treated. The Inuits have become slovenly and lazy to feel the need to justify this "mass-produced brutality". Their father's long before them did not board commercial vessels and do these over-commercialized killings. It is a lack of respect for the true hunt for food, and gross negligence on the parts of real Inuit people. I feel they need to ask the Lord for forgiveness, and get off their lazy,asses and do their own personal hunting for the things they really need. The world must be coming to an end because even the Inuits are blinded by greed.

[Beth]

Your right Bernard , it is a shame , that you people can't move on from your heritage of clubbing seals , if you think the rest of Canada will support this , you my friend are mistakin . And by the way The european market is a market of Fashion when that falls China has no use for the seal skins , it seems europe sets a standard what to wear, so you can thank your government for that , latest news is that they have seized the Farley Mowatt , which is a european vessel in international waters , got to love the Canadian coast guard , first that kill some sealers and now they just killed your only hope of keeping the hunt alive

like I said happy hunting

[Leigh-Ann]

>

Rick, I deleted a number of posts written by you, but I did it almost a year ago. If those are the posts you're referring to, I deleted anything which was condescending or which contained personal attacks, and I guess a number of your posts fell under that umbrella. If you have a problem with something I deleted, please drop me an email about it.

[Leigh-Ann]

I'm the blog moderator, and wanted to remind everyone that personal attacks and threats aren't welcomed here. Discussion is fine, but when you stop talking about the seal hunt and start talking about each other, you're pretty much off-topic. There are obviously a lot of intelligent people with strong opinions on both sides, and I'm happy to see those opinions expressed as long as you can do it without hurling insults at each other. Feel free to email me if you need any clarification or assistance. Thank you!

Leigh-Ann (a Canadian who does not support the seal hunt)

[Leigh-Ann]

I didn't realize my email address wouldn't show up under my name. So, if you are concerned about any posts here, or no longer here, I can be reached at LGerow@IFAW.org. I'm happy to discuss anything related to this blog or website with you.

[Rick]

well I guess you could consider my personal attacks against the ifaw and the propaganda it spews as a personal attack if that is the case I guess you are correct. But in the majority of my posts your organization is the only group I attack in an attempt to persuade the people to get as much information as possible before they donate to your group. Perhaps I am a bit of an optimus but
I would hope that a group like the ifaw would at least respect the right of free speech but like I have stated before I guess it only lasts as long as it dosent hurt the bottom line.
sincerely rick
(By the way I had several posts in this thread i believe were deleted this year)

[jake]

The practical argument is simple. Seals eat fish--a lot of fish. The cod stocks still haven't recovered since we chased away the Spaniards for over-fishing. Killing seals restores the balance of the nature and their killing is not in vain. Most of the animal is used and is not wasted, unlike the Japanese who kill whales and stash them in freezers because no one wants to eat whale meat. Neither do they use the blubber for fuel; that is a waste of life.

As far as the emotional argument, I can appreciate how barbaric that must look to see some lumbering guy with a seal club whack a baby harp seal and drag it back to the boat as it leaves a crimson trail on the snow--not pretty.
Perhaps they could use a cattle gun like the assassin in No Country for Old Men. The hunter could saunter up to a seal, press the puncher against its head and poof, no fuss, no muss. Bag it, tag it and it's cleaner than an abortion.

That should appease those liberal crybabies for a little while.

[Michael Manella]

"The millions Ottawa spends subsidizing the seal hunt" By Murray Teitel (nationalpost.com)
Whether you think killing seals is a bad thing or a good thing, whether you think it barbaric or humane, you should oppose Canada's annual seal hunt.
According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) the justification for the hunt is to provide economic opportunities for Canada's coastal communities. Last year, according to its Web site, this entire economic opportunity amounted to $12-million, the value of all seal pelts landed. They fetched on average $52 a pelt. According to evidence given to Parliament's standing committee on fisheries and oceans on Nov. 6, 2006, half of that is eaten up by expenses, so we are talking, at most, $6-million that flowed to the sealers themselves: one-tenth of 1% of Newfoundland's GDP. (This year it will be even less, because pelts of three to four week old "beaters" that make up 95% of the catch are selling for between $6 and $33.)
This $6-million costs Canadians at least 10 times as much and does so year after year. First of all, there is the cost of deploying the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) to the seal hunt for seven weeks each year. Last year it involved 10 vessels, many of them icebreakers, helicopters and patrol planes. Nobody in government knows, even less wants to know, what this costs. DFO claims it costs nothing because the boats and aircraft are owned and the crews are on salary. Does it cost nothing to put out fires in Toronto because it owns the trucks and firefighters aren't on piecework? Toronto hires firefighters and buys trucks based on the anticipated number and severity of fires. A significant part of what CCG does is rescue sealers. Some 24% of its 2003 fishing vessel rescues derived from this hunt. Without it, CCG's annual budget could be significantly reduced. One hunt-deployed icebreaker, the Amundsen, costs $50,000 per day to operate in winter. Given DFO's lack of transparency, one can only estimate the annual CCG cost attributable to the hunt at $5-million.
Secondly, every year some disaster occurs. Last year, it was heavy ice that trapped sealers for days on end. Some even ran out of cigarettes! DFO calculated the extra CCG costs due to heavy ice at $3.41-million. It also paid $7.9-million to owners of boats damaged by ice. This year, it is the drowning of four sealers and the near drowning of two while being rescued by CCG. This resulted in the cost of an unsuccessful week-long 2,800 nautical square mile search for one of the drowned and his boat involving patrol planes, helicopters and three icebreakers. The inevitable lawsuits and legal bills will easily cost more than $6-million.
Thirdly, millions are spent every year trying to counter bans on the importation of seal products. Our NAFTA partners and four European countries have imposed bans. Four countries have announced intentions to do so. Italy and Luxembourg have suspended imports. The European Parliament resolved to impose an EU-wide ban. The Council of Europe has called on its 46 members to do so.
Canada has taken Holland and Belgium to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Aside form being terribly expensive, it jeopardizes a relationship with two countries with which Canada has a trade surplus. $5.2-million of raw seal products constitutes less than 1/1,000 of what we export to Europe.
The DFO, since at least 2003, has been flying high-level delegations to Europe to argue against the bans. Last year, there were at least six such junkets. For example, on March 27, 2007, a 17-person delegation was dispatched to the British Parliament for a meeting attended by only five British MPs. Last month, seven Canadians, including Loyola Sullivan, ambassador for fisheries conservation, the Premier of Nunavut and a Newfoundland Cabinet minister flew to four European capitals for a week.
Unfortunately, they seem to use a travel agent who excels at finding the most expensive fares available. When Mr. Sullivan flew on seal business to five European capitals this January, the airfare alone was $10,270.80. The DFO's Kevin Stringer flew to Paris for $4,459.65 on Sept. 5, 2007. Of course, this is nothing compared with the $16,025.25 spent on airfare to Australia and New Zealand by the DFO's director general of economic analysis whom I wish would do an economic analysis of his own expense accounts. With hotels, wines, meals and support staff, this adds up.
They have as much chance of stemming this tide as Germany did of stopping the Allies after D Day. The battle is lost. But because of ideological fanaticism they keep fighting, secure in the delusion that the Canadian taxpayer, like the cod, is an inexhaustible resource that will forever fund this foolishness that only benefits the high-end European tourism industry.
Fourthly, there is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) led boycott that is largely responsible for the inflation adjusted $465-million drop in the value of Canadian exports of snow crabs - the main seafood export to the United States from Canada's sealing provinces - since April, 2005. The value of 2007 snow crab exports is 44% lower than it was in 2004, the year prior to the boycott.
HSUS has to date persuaded almost 3,600 U.S. businesses to participate, including heavy hitters Publix (annual sales $24-billion), Whole Foods ($7-billion), WinCo Foods, Lowe's Foods, Harris Teeter ($3-billion each) and smaller, seafood-driven ones like Legal Sea Foods ($400-million). Sealing creates less than 1% of the value of the sealing provinces' fishery. Sacrifice 99% for the sake of 1%. Now there's a business plan!
Finally, there is the cost of the DFO seal-hunt bureaucracy, which alone has to cost more than the sealers earn: license issuers, accountants, typists, file clerks, inspectors, quota setters, regulation drafters, "scientists," "statisticians," "economic analysts," speech writers, media relations officers, anti-boycott propagandists, writers of replies to angry letters, arrangers of tours of European journalists (when the seal hunt is not taking place), all in the service of what DFO says is 5,000 to 6,000 (more like 2,000, I believe) people averaging $1,000 a year from killing 275,000 seals. There is a conflict of interest in the DFO having jurisdiction over the Coast Guard. If it were controlled by the Minister of Defence, he'd immediately see that for what he is spending on the seal hunt, he could outfit an artillery regiment.
Enough already. This is a colossal waste of taxpayers' money. And the sealers? Sealers should prefer these monies be used to train them for jobs in the 21st-century economy, rather than to preserve them as relics of a hunter/gatherer one.

Source: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2008/04/18/the-millions-ottawa-spends-subsidizing-the-seal-hunt.aspx

If you have received this message in error, please notify me immediately and delete this e-mail and any attachments without copying, distributing or disclosing their contents.

Si vous avez reçu ce message par erreur, veuillez nous en aviser immédiatement et détruire ce courriel ainsi que toute pièce jointe en vous abstenant d'en faire une copie, d'en divul

[RICK]

i feel sad for the fact checker at the post it was proven that the majority of restaurants on the list for the bycott didnt even sell seafood lol. Priceless. Also since its been said that perhaps eco tourism is the way to go I would hope that the coast guard would still be out their to open paths and save lives still and irregardless they have to patrol anyway.

[Leigh-Ann Gerow]

This blog is about the seal hunt and only the seal hunt. It is not about factory farming, vegans, other animal species, how smart you think you are, or how stupid you think someone else is. If you need to debate, debate the issue of the seal hunt and not the issue of each other.

If you had (a) post(s) deleted, it was because they contained more than just seal hunt discussion. If you are opposed to IFAW's position, you are free to express your opinions, but if you attack another poster or veer off-topic, your post will be deleted.

Anyone who thinks I've deleted their comment in an attempt to "silence" them is incorrect. Your comment was deleted for a reason I've already listed. Write your comment again, refrain from mocking other participants in the conversation, and your post will remain.

[Britt]

I just received an email about this, and it is really really sad.
I wish there was some sure way of preventing it.
I hate the people who do this! I think they are cruel and heartless and i didnt even watch the video,I think i would just get even more angry.
Lets hit them over the head and see how they feel!

[Chris]

It is a terrible realization what these sick people are doing, but we all must stand our ground we must show we care. And people are starting to see, they are finding out the truth. We are spreading the facts, people are waking up to the truth. All thanks to IFAW and people like us all.

[Ian]

Those sealers are sick, can't they feel the pain on those seals? we should have a boycott against canada government, till all these inhumanne seals slaughtering stops!

[Sarah]

Leigh-Ann Gerow,
u said "This blog is about the seal hunt and only the seal hunt. It is not about factory farming, vegans, other animal species, how smart you think you are, or how stupid you think someone else is. If you need to debate, debate the issue of the seal hunt and not the issue of each other."

why then havn't you deleted those comments by (name removed)?
they are extremely long posts in which he makes out that he is the smartest thing that ever walked the planet and the other posters are stupid or lacking intelligence, pulling apart and analysing their posts.
what the? what is wrong with your mediating.
people like that are extremely pigheaded and think they are better than everyone else. why saY you'll delete posts for the reasons mentioned above when clearly you haven't.

i presume you'll see this post and delete it - otherwise i wouldn't post it.

just letting u know what i think

(name removed) posts are a waste of space and were a complete waste of time reading, all they did was infuriate me because he thinks he's so damn good!

this board is not for arguments and debates!! its for comments!

[Leigh-Ann Gerow]

Sarah, I welcome your assistance in finding inflammatory entries. If you find one that I've missed, please let me know via email. My email address is LGerow@IFAW.org. I'll need to know which blog entry they appear in, and on which date they were posted, and by whom. I know I've probably missed some entries which should be removed, and I hope I'll be hearing from anyone who feels there's a comment which needs a second look. Thank you.

[kim h]

These men have no respect for life. They display an emotional disconnect that is almost like they are comatose. Makes one wonder how they treat there families, wives, children pets??? Doesn't cruelty, abuse and neglect toward humans show itself by the way one treats animals? I think most communitys recognize that as a warning sign. How will the world ever be peaceful for all if the people do not become fully conscious of their behaviour and outcome of it? Become civilized. There are better ways to earn a living.

[kiwi]

this is crazy! every thing should have a chance to live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! animal or human!