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Baby Seals for XK

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19:21 / 05.04.07

The Humane Society is monitering the seal hunt

Right. It's happened every year for my entire life. We all know about it and I think many of us have shuffled it into the 'things we hate but can't change category.

Well you can do something and I'm not talking about donating money or time. I'm hoping maybe some of you will join the boycott against Canadian Seafood. Boycotts are an effective non violent way of changing policy. learn more here.

Now in its fourth day, Canada’s annual commercial slaughter of baby seals has intensified after this new area was opened to sealers. As you read this, baby seals are being shot and clubbed to death by the thousands. Will you help me save these beautiful creatures?

Already, the melting of ice due to global warming has devastated seal populations. It's estimated that more than a quarter of the seal pups born this year have died. And the survivors are now being targeted in the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet -- a slaughter whose primary purpose is to sell the skins of baby seals to the fur industry.

I'm an omnivore yet I know our food and clothing sources do not have to come from cruel and unsustainable practices. I understand the people doing the killing are trying to earn money but it's not a sustainable form. I can't support it and won't support it.

Now please post happy seal pictures to keep me from bursting into tears every five minutes and wanting to club people in the head with a big hook attached to a 2x4.

Thank you.

19:25 / 05.04.07

Unsustainable and Inhumane

In 1998, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) obtained video footage of the seal hunt. In reviewing the footage, veterinarian Dr. Mary Richardson (one-time chair of the Animal Care Review Board for the Solicitor-General of Ontario, Director of Animal Welfare for the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association, and Animal Welfare Committee Member for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association) said, "It is clear that the DFO, which is responsible for monitoring this hunt, and the Canadian Sealers Association, which promotes this hunt as well-regulated, have done nothing to ensure that seals are not suffering and that the relevant provisions of the Marine Mammal Regulations and the Criminal Code of Canada are upheld."

In late 2000, Environment Voters, a Canadian non-profit that specializes in electoral politics, and the Animal Protection Institute branded the harp seal hunt "a particularly egregious example of the worst fisheries management practices in Canada." In their report, the groups accused Canada's seal management regime of tolerating intense animal cruelty, maintaining a quota that risks depleting harp and hooded seal populations, disregarding and abusing the law, ignoring modern conservation principals, strategically avoiding applying the best science available, using bad science to lend the seal hunt an aura of scientific validity, and being entirely politically driven without regard for environmental or humane consequences.

In 2001, a report by an independent team of veterinarians (Ian Robinson and John Gripper from the United Kingdom, Debbie Ruehlmann and Rosemary Burdon from the United States, and Alan Longair from Canada, who were invited by the IFAW to observe the hunt) also concluded that governmental regulations were neither being respected nor enforced, and that the seal hunt failed to comply with Canada's basic animal welfare regulations. The veterinarians found a disturbing number of seals (as many as 40%) probably were skinned while alive and conscious.

I think I've found the justification for being a serial killer.

19:32 / 05.04.07

I don't understand how this still goes on. I don't understand it about whaling either. I will happily boycott Canadian food with you and I shall write to someone to tell them I am doing it. Who should we write to?

Happy seals:

Look, he is so happy.

And so is this pair.

19:37 / 05.04.07

Here's the direct link for informing the Canadian government about your boycott.

19:40 / 05.04.07

GOTEAMOUTRAGEPENFORSEALS!!

Contact Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.

Prime Minister's Office
Right Honorable Stephen Harper
80 Wellington St.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OA2
613-992-4211
Fax: 613-941-6900
Email: pm@pm.gc.ca or Harper.S@parl.gc.ca

Write, fax, email, or call the nearest Canadian embassy. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you can look up the Canadian embassy in your nation. The contact information for the embassy in Washington, D.C., is below:

The Honourable Michael Wilson
Office of the Ambassador
Canadian Embassy
501 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-682-1740
Fax: 202-682-7701, 202-682-7678
canada@canadianembassy.org

Click here for suggested points to make.
Don't vacation in Canada. Consider instead spending your tourist dollars in a nation that does not actively promote the barbaric slaughter of wildlife. Write to the Canadian Tourism Commission and the Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism Office to explain why you've made this decision.

Canadian Tourism Commission
Four Bentall Centre, Suite 1400
1055 Dunsmuir Street, Box 49230
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V7X 1L5
604-638-8300
Email: Use the Contact Us form on www.canadatourism.com

Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism
P.O. Box 8700
St. John's, NL Canada A1B 4J6
1-800-563-6353
Email: tourisminfo@gov.nl.ca

Tell Canada's Minister of International Trade, David Emerson, that the seal hunt damages Canada's international reputation, and remind him that it has resulted in ongoing global boycotts of Canadian seafood and tourism. Say that a hunt opposed by most Canadian citizens shouldn't be allowed to harm Canada's economy. You can email him using our form or contact him using the information below.

Minister of International Trade
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0G2
613-992-7332
Fax: 613-996-8924
Email: emersd@parl.gc.ca

Ask your senators to co-sponsor Senator Carl Levin's (D-MI) resolution condemning the Canadian seal hunt.

Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper protesting the seal hunt.

19:41 / 05.04.07

Kiss 'em onna nose.

19:42 / 05.04.07

Thanks 'Lula! Your pics are making me come in from the ledge.

19:47 / 05.04.07

Just saying:

Myth #2: Seals are being skinned alive.

Reality: A 2002 independent veterinarians’ report published in the Canadian Veterinary Journal and numerous reports mentioned by the Malouf Commission (1987) indicate that this is not true.

Sometimes a seal may appear to be moving after it has been killed; however seals have a swimming reflex that is active – even after death. This reflex gives the false impression that the animal is still alive when it is clearly dead – similar to the reflex in chickens.

Not that I am supporting the killing, but maybe not as bad as it is hyped up to be? There is hunting and killing everywhere...no that doesn't help at all.

I'll get back to you on the cute and cuddly.

20:00 / 05.04.07

Well I'm not seeing a lot of checking happening in the film footage. Maybe it's off screen. However the casually swinging of the clubs is not really inspiring me to think there's anybody giving a fucking flying fuck for the way these animals are dying on the paycheck side of the event.

"The vets carried out postmortem examinations on 76 seal carcasses left behind on the ice after being skinned, and their findings have shocked even the most hardened anti-hunt campaigners."

Examinations of the skulls revealed that 17% showed no signs of any cranial injury which would have caused the animal to be unconscious when its pelt was removed. A further 25% showed only minimal or moderate signs of injury which the vets conclude would also have been unlikely to cause unconsciousness.

The panel also reviewed video evidence of this year's and previous hunts. It found that in almost 80% of kills recorded, no effort was made by the hunter to check that the seals were unconscious, while in 40% of cases, the hunter left the animal on the ice before returning to club it a second time, suggesting that it was conscious and suffering in the meantime.

"Based on our observations, it is obvious that there is a tremendous lack of consistency in the treatment of each seal, and the existing regulations are neither respected nor enforced," the report says.

Humane killing

In their report, the vets say that there is only one process for ensuring the humane killing of a seal. It must be rendered unconscious with a single blow or shot, the corneal reflex should be checked by poking it in the eyes to ensure that it is unconscious, and the seal should then be bled immediately. This is standard practice in abattoirs.

"Any method for killing a seal which does not allow for the above process of stunning, checking and bleeding to be performed has an enormous potential to create suffering and is therefore unacceptable." the report says.

It continues: "As this process cannot be followed in open water, we consider that shooting seals in open water can never be humane. Any method of taking a seal which requires the seal to be recovered by gaffing or hooking before the process can be followed can never be humane."

Yeah so I'm not convinced.

20:02 / 05.04.07

• A recent study in the scientific journal Marine Mammal Science concluded that in 1998 the actual number of harp seals killed was somewhere between 406,258 and 548,903. This compares with the 282,070 animals reported landed by the Canadian government in the same period.

From the same link above.

21:21 / 05.04.07

What I don't understand is those ice floes are not even recognized as Canadian by the American government.

21:35 / 05.04.07

ONK!!

22:10 / 05.04.07

Happy seals! YAY!

22:35 / 05.04.07

"Pweeze go hunt a cow instead. Im ever so cute!"

fish confusion errata

22:51 / 05.04.07

I'm Canadian, and I'm very sorry.

22:55 / 05.04.07

1/Did you personally do it?
2/Did you say anything about preferring not to do it?

If 1/= no and 2/= yes, it's not your fault.

I am British so I know this.

23:00 / 05.04.07

Keg, you have clubbed me to death with cuteness.

23:03 / 05.04.07

Well that's just fantastic. Now there's going to be a big Anti Triplets clubbing protest movement. And I was having a good day too.

23:11 / 05.04.07

23:15 / 05.04.07

06:15 / 06.04.07

08:19 / 06.04.07

Loaned from the cute thread...

13:01 / 06.04.07

SQUEEE!!!

ghadis gets a double triple SQUEE!

I had a long hard think about why the seal clubbing pushed me over the edge of the regular factory farming -our world is McFucked- feeling.

Tell me if this makes any sense or if I need to adjust my process.

1. Most people who consume factory farm meat have been indoctrinated into a culture that tells them it is an essential part of their diet and survival. Many of them may not be educated about meat alternatives or humanely raised farm animals. They may also not be able to easily afford the price difference (in the US it can be twice as much) for organic humanely raised animal products.

2. AFAIK seals are killed for their fur and I believe in my culture this is a luxury item. No one I know of considers fur to be an essential for survival. I maybe being prejudiced in my thinking but I will openly say I cannot imagine any adult in my culture actually believing this is an essential survival level item. It is a privilaged object of status.

Harpseal.org says Prada,Gucci, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and Birger Christensen sell the items.

So yes I think the majority of omnivores need to be educated about factory farming alternatives and action needs to be taken to ensure all animals are treated with respect. However I see no reason why someone wearing a fur coat or item should not be publicly shamed for participating in this process. Maybe I'm missing something but I have no compassion for wealthy people buying furs or blood diamonds.

I'm seeing more and more 'Humanely raised' tags on meat products even though my state just failed to pass a humane chicken raising Bill. So there seems to be more progress there.

What you think?

13:10 / 06.04.07

I think that's a fair way of looking at things. I personally have no problem with confronting people who wear fur for precisely the reasons you set out. You have a valid point about the issue of necessity.

14:56 / 06.04.07

I suppose blaming it all on penguin mind control wouldn't help. The little black and white bastards with their killer whale biorobot commandos....

15:06 / 06.04.07

grant, you are allowed to post pictures of the epic penguin vs. seal conflict here if you wish.
I'd rather see seals being eaten by the killer tuxedo commandos then made into hats for jaded rich people.

I'm interested in exploring the ideas around acceptable/not acceptable around privilage and these issues. For example I know much of the leather products are not food animal by-products turned into something useful, but instead animals raised specificly for their hides. Yet I'm less likely to throw flour on a construction worker wearing cow leather boots than a celeb wearing alligator boots. What's happening here...Maybe a new thread?

16:46 / 06.04.07

Yes, I agree with the whole fur thing, and the cruelty thing, but I have another thing on my conscience, that being the Inuit.

Now, I don't want to equate the commercialism of this hunt with traditions of the people, but in none of the statistic given is this a concern. It is not like the Inuit people have a lot of accessibility or natural resources, (that are not taken over completely by industry and government) off of which they can earn some money to survive in their own ever-threatened environment and culture. While I am not for the killing, I think we need to have a clearer understanding of what is going on before making rash judgments. (Some of the propaganda is out of date and there are many embellishments on both sides, it seems. I suspect the answer is somewhere in the middle.)

Now, for the pious amongst us, maybe they can be righteous about the slaughter, but really, it is hard for me to make judgments about one form of killing being worse than another. I am not condoning it, but I can't be judgmental either, since I am not fully apprised of the social/cultural/economic issues of the entire situation, and not just one perspective.

Red blood on white ice makes great propaganda photo-ops, especially when sterile western culture shields us from the slaughterhouse. Since they are run by corporations with money, they are not as easy a target as Inuit hunters.

I think sticking the tag of "Canadian seal hunters" on this, instead of what is largely "Inuit seal hunters" skips over one of the components of the issue at hand.

17:19 / 06.04.07

Well unless I'm totoally mislead, the Inuit hunt the seal for meat as well as fur? I also believe they hunt the adults is a sustainable manner?

This is my take on the Inuit's right to hunt

NativeRadio.com has always supported indigenous culture and causes. The Inuit have the sovereign right to subsistence hunt seals for food and commercial needs. The Inuit are not hunting baby Harp seals, but rather adult Ring seals. They also do not use brutal killing tactics, and are not decimating a species of animal.

Our fight is not with the Inuit, but rather the Canadian government and the commercial slaughter of baby Harp seals. The Canadian government likes to tell the world that this slaughter is "98% humane". The facts and documented evidence shows that to be an outright lie.

What is 98% humane about clubbing to death 12 day old baby harp seals, with a large ice-pick-like hakapik (many requiring second strikes)? What is 98% humane about skinning alive these defenseless creatures? What is 98% humane about killing baby Harp seals so someone can show off their expensive seal pelts?

There is a difference in an indigenous culture's right to hunt for food and economic survival, and the non-indigenous Newfoundlander's massive slaughter of defenseless animals for profit and vanity!

NativeRadio.com does not condone the killing of any creature, but we do understand the Inuit's right to do so.

We believe that baby Harp seals have as much right (if not more) to be on this planet, than we do. We will continue to do what we can to make the world aware of this slaughter and to do what we can to stop it.

17:34 / 06.04.07

I don't know, XK. I would rather see an explanation from the Inuit people themselves, rather than U.S based aboriginals distancing themselves from it.

17:36 / 06.04.07

Well let's see if we can find one.

18:28 / 06.04.07

I'm going to have to take a break from the research and just spend some time praying. Reading the articles on the vast numbers of these animals killed in one week by commercial non Inuit people is making me a bit overwrought.

19:58 / 06.04.07

I'm going to have to take a break from the research and just spend some time praying.

That is just about where I am at.

15:17 / 07.04.07

I am trying to source the Inuit side of this issue for you, XK, (and others who are interested in knowing the entire story). A friend of mine works for an Inuit community non-profit and linked me to some of the newsletters.

Here is a quite spirited response to Sir Paul and Lady Heather. In particular this part:

"Sir Paul your desire to completely stop the Seal hunt is not a one issue campaign, but a case of tunnel vision brought on by the propaganda of those who reap enormous financial benefit from using you and Lady Heather as the poster children for their cause alongside a newborn Whitecoat Pup. Speaking of which, I think is it time that Premier Williams launches a lawsuit against using the Whitecoat pup image associated with campaigns to ban the seal hunt as fraudulent misrepresentation, since the federally regulated hunt does not permit hunting and killing of these seals in the Whitecoat stage.

Furthermore, Premier Williams should request Congress and the FBI to do a forensic audit of the Humane Society of the US and any other agency that uses the seal hunt as a revenue generation mechanism to show what proportion of the seal hunt revenues go towards the seal hunt campaign, and what portion are diverted into general revenue, as none of these monies are ever directed towards the rural communities whose fabric has been ripped apart by the fishery collapse. If found guilty of such misappropriation of cause specific funds, then these agencies should be stripped of their taxable donation status."

An article from 2005.

A 2007 article, which Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami states:

"Seal hunting is an intrinsic part of our way of life," Simon said in a news release. "It provides food, clothing, cultural and economic sustenance, and commercial interests. Selling pelts is a by-product of our subsistence hunt. We have no intention of stopping our traditional seal hunting practices."

17:05 / 09.04.07

I believe the Inuit hunt only counts for 3% of the total annual kills.
I can go dig that fact up in a bit.

17:18 / 09.04.07

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