What do you think about Canada's annual baby seal hunt?

[Sarapva]

Canada will begin it's annual seal hunt soon, where it has given permission for hunters to take close to 300,000 baby harp seals. Belgium and the Netherlands have banned the import of seal fur, and the EU is considering a ban. Russia is now also considering stopping the purchase of Canada's white baby seal pelts. But the hunt continues and is subsidized by taxes.

This is another horribly cruel slaughter where the hunters club baby seals to death with spiked clubs. Of course, there are all kinds of problems with this kind of killing and not all seals die immediately. Some are even still alive during skinning.

This is the International Fund for Animal Welfare's (IFAW) report on the seal hunt:

In the last year, an international groundswell of opposition to this hunt has brought about national bans on seal products in Belgium and The Netherlands. Similar bans designed to close down markets for seal pelts are currently under consideration in Germany, Italy and Austria.

Amid the European trade ban discussions of the last year, the international demand for seal fur has diminished considerably and pelt prices have dropped by almost half.

ﾂ"All recent evidence indicates that the market for seal fur is saturated. There is no place for pelts to go, even at reduced prices,ﾂ" said Fink. ﾂ"For these reasons, the Canadian government will once again have to support this cruel and unsustainable hunt with tax breaks and hidden subsidies,ﾂ" added Fink. ﾂ"It has become quite clear that Canada's commercial seal hunt sustains nothing but the political futures of a few decision-makers in Canada.ﾂ"

Canada's commercial seal hunt continues to be the world's largest hunt for marine mammals today. Last year over 224,000 seals were killed, 98.5% of which were pups under three months old.

http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=227192


The Sea Shepherd Society, which has just finished its campaign to disrupt the Japanese whaling near Antarctica, will now be going to Canada to try to intervene on behalf of the seals:

Canada, as if to slap the Europeans in the face for threatening to ban seal products, has set this year's kill quota at 325,000 seals.

It's hard to believe that this is the 21st Century, when a government of a wealthy nation like Canada continues to promote and encourage the largest and most sadistic marine wildlife massacre on the planet.

Canadian Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn set the high quota without any scientific justification and without any market justification. The Canadian taxpayers will continue to foot the bill to send uneducated sadistic killers onto the ice with spiked clubs to bash in the skulls of seal pups. It is nothing more than a glorified welfare scheme to give East coast fishermen enough work to justify their unemployment insurance payments.

In announcing the new quota Hearn said that the seal slaughter has been improved with new rules to make the hunt more ﾂ"humaneﾂ".

The new rules call for the sealers to sever the arteries of seals under their flippers after they have been shot or clubbed.

It's ﾂ"bash and slashﾂ" now instead of just ﾂ"bashﾂ" and that is considered to be an improvement.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_080312_1.html

What do you think of Canada continuing to hunt seals? Should it be stopped?

 

[nice gaijin]

I think people do a lot of things they shouldn't be allowed to, but is the problem with this the fact that it's baby seals that are hunted, or is it the manner in which they are hunted?

 

[Mars Man]

I had to vote neither. Lack of information would be one factor in that, and another would be simply a concern with numbers.

Again, I do not so outrightly trust the procedures by most animal rights groups, and therefore would prefer to see further investigation reports by neutral sources--I wouldn't trust the governmental only sources so much either.

One root problem here, as usual, is the people problem. This spec of dust in the universe is a little out of balance in its life form distribution/environ usage ratios. Thus, while it might not be necessary for the political state to stop hunting of that particular life form, in that particular state, it would surely be good to demand a far more balanced, and greatly reduced kill allowance.

 

[MadamePapillon]

I voted opposed. Most people here are opposed to it, I'm not sure why the Government continues it but I think it's a barbaric practice that has no place in a nation like Canada.

That reminds me, not so long ago (about 3 weeks or so) I was in Vancouver and there was big posters at some of the bus stops (where normally they have fashion ads and whatnot) condemning the seal hunt.
Also here in Surrey I've seen posters about it.


@ nicegaijin

I believe the seals are usually clubbed to death, plus the fact that they are baby seals (around 2 months) and the dead seals go to feed the fur industry...a bunch of these sorts of factors combined is what make people opposed to it.

 

[Tsuyoiko]

I voted opposed. Most people here are opposed to it, I'm not sure why the Government continues it but I think it's a barbaric practice that has no place in a nation like Canada.

If most people there really are opposed to it then I have faith it will be stopped eventually, if those people campaign hard enough. It happened here with fox hunting.

Why are they hunted anyway? Is it just for the fur or to keep the population down?

 

[Amathev]

Sounds pretty horrid.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

"In 2005, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) commissioned the Independent Veterinarians Working Group Report. With reference to video evidence, the report states: "Perception of the seal hunt seems to be based largely on emotion, and on visual images that are often difficult even for experienced observers to interpret with certainty. While a hakapik strike on the skull of a seal appears brutal, it is humane if it achieves rapid, irreversible loss of consciousness leading to death."[52]
The 2001 report contained a number of recommendations on how sealing could be conducted more humanely. They did not, however, recommend the disuse of the controversial hakapik. Actually, the report recommended more training, mandatory blink-reflex tests for unconsciousness, and the cessation of open-water hunting. The report also recommended that seals be bled out immediately after clubbing, in order to ensure that the animals are unconscious when skinning begins. This is a recommendation taken in response to incidents of seals regaining consciousness after clubbing.[53] It has also been strongly recommended that seals killed by guns to be shot to a quick death, not be wounded and left to die. The 2002 CVMA report, however, indicated an average time of 45.2 seconds between the animal being shot and a sealer killing it with a hakapik. The report concluded that this time compared well with established and acceptable humane killing practices according to the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards where acceptable times range from 45-300 seconds.";
Seal hunting - Wikipedia
What is so barbaric about seal hunting if the seals are killed in a humane manner? It might be gory, but if the seals are being hunted in sustainable levels and they are being killed in a humane manner, then there shouldn't be a problem with it.

This is another horribly cruel slaughter where the hunters club baby seals to death with spiked clubs.

Where did you get this info from? From what i've read, seals are hunted with rifles and hakapiks- not with clubs with spikes sticking out of them.

 

[Sarapva]

I think people do a lot of things they shouldn't be allowed to, but is the problem with this the fact that it's baby seals that are hunted, or is it the manner in which they are hunted?

It's both:

Some seals are killed with a blow to the head using a wooden club or hakapik. The sealers stun as many baby seals as they can before going back to kill them. Some seals try to get away, but they are clumsy on the ice, heaving their fat little bodies with an uncoordinated flipper shuffle. Other seals are shot from a distance and then dragged from the ice onto boats using steel hooks.

http://www.stopthesealhunt.com/site..._Why_the_Seal_Hunt_is_Cruel_to_Baby_Seals.htm

A recent scientific study (Leaper and Matthews 2006) examining the Canadian government's approach for determining the population status for Northwest Atlantic harp seals revealed that the current approach to managing the seal hunt risks seriously depleting the harp seal population by as much as 50 to 70 percent over the next 15 years.

http://www.stopthesealhunt.com/site...k.4102/Why_the_Seal_Hunt_is_Unsustainable.htm


Posted by Tokis-Phoenix:

Where did you get this info from? From what i've read, seals are hunted with rifles and hakapiks- not with clubs with spikes sticking out of them.

The hakapik is a club with a spike, isn't it? I know there's a spike somewhere, as well as metal hooks that they use to drag the seals to the boats.

Posted by Tsuyoiko:

Why are they hunted anyway? Is it just for the fur or to keep the population down?

It's just for the fur. Environmental groups believe that they're seriously depleting the harp seal populations by killing so many baby seals. This is compounded by the problem of global warming. There's not as much ice as there used to be, and less area for the seals to live. I'll look for a link that describes this.

Posted by MadamPapillon:

That reminds me, not so long ago (about 3 weeks or so) I was in Vancouver and there was big posters at some of the bus stops (where normally they have fashion ads and whatnot) condemning the seal hunt.
Also here in Surrey I've seen posters about it.

I'm glad people are protesting in Canada, also! I'll bet the main population of Canada doesn't like this at all.

 

[MadamePapillon]

What is so barbaric about seal hunting if the seals are killed in a humane manner? It might be gory, but if the seals are being hunted in sustainable levels and they are being killed in a humane manner, then there shouldn't be a problem with it.

The reason I'm largely opposed is because a big part of the reason seals are killed is because of their fur. If it was solely a matter of killing the seals for meat and blubber it wouldn't be a big deal, but in that case they would be taking the bigger seals rather than the baby seals.

Baby seals are killed because they have the more desirable fur, the meat and blubber are just a bonus. Any practice that involves going out and clubbing baby seals to death by the thousands for the almost sole purpose of making their skin into hats and jackets is barbaric.

 

[Elizabeth]

If most people there really are opposed to it then I have faith it will be stopped eventually, if those people campaign hard enough. It happened here with fox hunting.

I saw a bumper sticker today that read: "Stop the baby seal hunt. Boycott Canadian seafood."

As far as I know that is the main line of protest being launched, although I'm not sure how strong the economic connection is between commercial fisheries and the seal hunting industries.

Maybe I'll send a contribution to an ecologically responsible organization trying to stop the insanity since I fortunately haven't ever patronized their imports.

 

[bakaKanadajin]

I don't support a lot of things my country does. This seal-hunt is one of them. The time for fishing-based economies has come and gone in Canada. Fishing has to be done sustainably and needs to be regulated by scientific bodies and administered by professional and knowledgable fisherman. That's why these people need work and why most people born out east get the F out and move to Ontario or, now a days, out West to Alberta to work the oil sands.

Anyone who thinks death by spiked-club is humane ought to rethink their definition of 'humane', especially in light of the fact that to some, lethal injection is still considered a vulgar practice. There's a reason why we wouldn't even do that to the worst criminals on death row. But I don't really consider myself part of the big fat 'we'. An individual who has raped and killed has less value to me than a baby seal, so as crazy as it sounds, here's my idea: we should be bludgeoning the criminals to save money on long-term and useless rehabilitation, then spend the difference on a humane method of culling these innocent seals for fur. Then, spend the fur money on after-school programs to prevent youth from turning to crime.

 

[MadamePapillon]

An individual who has raped and killed has less value to me than a baby seal, so as crazy as it sounds, here's my idea: we should be bludgeoning the criminals to save money on long-term and useless rehabilitation, then spend the difference on a humane method of culling these innocent seals for fur. Then, spend the fur money on after-school programs to prevent youth from turning to crime.

Haha, I know more than a few people here on the west side that would agree with that. You should start a petition 'Bludgeon the Criminals, Save the Seals', I'd sign up

 

[Sarapva]

Here's a petition for anyone who would like to sign from the Humane Society of the United States to support the EU ban on importing seal products:

http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/seal_trade_ban.html

This is another petition by Pamela Anderson to send to the Canadian government (against the seal hunt):

http://www.furisdead.com/feat-pampetition.asp

I'm glad to see no one has voted for supporting the hunt in the poll!

 

[Sarapva]

Here's a link to Rebecca Aldworth's journal which she writes during the seal hunt for the Humane Society, for anyone who would like to keep up with it. She's from Newfoundland and has been documenting and witnessing the seal hunt for 10 years.

No Cameras Permitted - Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation

They're saying that so far the Canadian government hasn't issued any permits to observe the hunting this year, which they're obligated to do under a Canadian law.

 

[Absynthia]

I strongly oppose it!

 

[Mycernius]

I think it is pretty barbaric. Who buys the furs nowadays, as real fur is generally frowned upon?

 

[Sarapva]

I think that most of the fur now is sold in Russia and some European countries. The European Union is considering a ban on importing any seal products.

This is the latest from Rebecca Aldsworth's journal, from the U.S. Humane Society's documentation of the seal hunt:

http://www.hsus.org/marine_mammals/marine_mammals_news/live_from_ice_032408.html

 

[Skullcrushergurl]

OPPOSE!!! Just another way for big mean old humans to abuse and hurt poor innocent animals!!!!