American animal rights’ organization PETA, is hoping to draw attention to the annual Canadian seal hunt by linking it to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
The Vancouver 2010 Campaign to Help End the Canadian Seal Slaughter is using the extra attention focused on Canada during Olympic preparations to highlight the annual seal hunt. However, Olympic campaigns are normally not that successful due to the vested financial interest of the host country in making a profit from the Olympics.
PETA explains that during Canada's annual sea hunt, tens of thousands of baby seals are killed for their skin. The seals, many of whom are only weeks old when they are killed, have their skulls smashed in or are shot at point-blank range by ‘hunters’, many of whom have no hunting skills and often do not make a swift kill.
PETA is asking individuals to write to the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee and to help put a stop to the seal hunt.
Comments
For one, the seals are overpopulating the area in which they live. They are nowhere near extinction. The approximate population of the seals is well over 6 million and reportedly growing. The cod population, however, is dropping rapidly. This is their main food source.
Secondly, seals are not merely used for their pelts. They are used for food and their liver oil, which is rich in Omega 3, and I believe iron as well.
And to Jessica, what good comes from name calling? Does it make you feel better about yourself? Calling people rednecks because you disagree with something they believe in is quite ridiculous. Having a different opinion does not make somebody a lesser being than you.
All of this is coming from somebody who is not entirely for the practice. It is imperfect despite the length of time is has been practiced, but it is not what groups like PETA and the like make it out to be. The men and women who hunt the seals are not rich by any means and they have families to support like anybody else. Jobs are not plentiful here and many of this province's population make their living off the land. This practice is an example of that.
Also, it is not fair to judge all of the people in this province for the practice. I don't hear the kind of hate speech towards Australians for the kangaroo cull that they practice that I do towards the people of Newfoundland.
in the inuit way of seeing the world, each living thing has a soul and a spirit that endures even after life has left the body. the inuit hunter is grateful for the food, clothing and other necessities these creatures provide. he seeks to protect their spirits so that others will come and the hunt can be renewed. special rituals are observed to show respect for the soul of a fallen animal. in one important ritual, the hunter places fresh water, obtained from melted snow, in the mouth of a slain seal to help slake its thirst. the concern is to show kindness to the soul of the animal whose body is about to be put to use by humans. inuit seal hunters use a rifle shot to the head or the thrust of a harpoon, causing instant death and sparing the animal from agony.
hunters are well aware of the dangers arising from reckless killing of animals. this can bring future retaliation in the form of famine. they know they must live in harmony with nature and take no more than is needed.
the hunting of seals and other wildlife in nunavut is carefully monitored by the nunavut wildlife management board, all catches are recorded and numbers are tallied for each community.
p.s. seals are not endangered, the fund-raising drives of anti-sealing groups proved so lucrative that their campaigns persisted long after their factual basis was shown to be weak, and that is seals are not endangered.
.I will fight til my death for the humane treatment of animals. It Is Not about not eating meat. No Man needs to be tought how to treat an animal he takes energy from. He just Feels~~
PETA and likewise organizations, I feel, exploit the cuteness of animals as well as human empathy -- they give no real information. Half of my high school is running about, sobbing that Canada is trying to add seal bashing to the Olympics. That statement is ridiculous at best -- it's not like deer hunting, kangaroo culling, or any like that is added. But still, a misguided youth reads skin deep into what these organizations say and this is where their power lies!
And finally, I will say that if we are to stop seal hunting, wouldn't it be just as fair for the Canadian Government to come back and demand other countries stop the harvesting of animals for profit? People need these animals to make a living and to suggest just packing up and moving is an unrealistic goal. It would be an easy life if everyone was a computer programmer or something, holed up in an office, staring bleakly at a screen. But not everyone chooses this life, sometimes they cannot. Certainly, bashing a baby seal's skull open has an emotional toll on a person, but these men and women need to get dirty in order to provide food and shelter for their own families.
People will try and find fault in my writing, but I hope at least a fraction of this has reached someone!
While Canada and other horrid countries kill animals 4 thrill, fun, and clothing.
I was so sad when I saw the videos, its ok to control the overpopulation, but I dont like the way you do (at least the way that one that is showed in the website) If some hunters have a video of how is the hunting would be nice for the people who doesnt know to watch that you dont hurt animals.
I dont find anything funny hurting animals on that way. If people lives from seals, you can do as the beef producers do.
Yes. According to reports from the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment, more than $20 million in subsidies were provided to the sealing industry between 1995 and 2001. Those subsidies came from entities such as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Human Resources Development Council, and Canada Economic Development–Quebec. These subsidies take a variety of forms, including funding the salaries for seal processing plant workers, market research and development trips, and capital acquisitions for processing plants. In 2004, more than $400,000 was provided by the Canadian government to companies for the development of seal products, and as recently as April 2007, the Canadian Coast Guard—at the taxpayer's expense—broke through the ice for the sealing vessels as it does each year. In 2007, the Canadian Coast Guard estimates that it spent an additional $3.5 million rescuing sealing vessels.
Moreover, Canada's commercial seal hunt is also indirectly subsidized by the Norwegian government. A Norwegian company purchases close to 80% of the sealskins produced in Canada in any given year through its Canadian subsidiary. These skins are shipped in an unprocessed state directly to Norway, where they are tanned and re-exported. The Norwegian government provides significant financial assistance to this company each year.
IF ANY animals "need" to be killed, do it humanely. Imagine yourself in the position of that animal..you might see it differently...
WE DO NOT CLUB WHITE COATS! IT IS ILLEGAL TO HUNT THEM! WHAT WOULD BE THE POINT-AS THERE IS NO MARKET! THE SEALS ARE NOT CLUBBED, THEY ARE HUNTED WITH HIGH-POWERED RIFLES, SO DEATH IS INSTANTANIOUS! The Dept of Fisheries & Oceans do not subsidized the Seal Hunt! As for the Coast Guard, they are paid the same whether they get an emergency call or not, so what's your point? You suggest, if we can't get another kind of employment, move to another place! Suppose we told all mainlanders that you have to get another job because we don’t agree with anyone driving an hour to and from work each day (that’s 500 hours of extra fuel consumption every year), 500 HOURS FOR EVERY EMPLOYEE IN ALL YOUR BIG CITIES!, Many have to travel even further! That’s an awful lot of pollution and we all know how unhealthy that is for the environment and animal welfare! Well right here in my community, most workers only have 5-15 minutes to get to work! That's a lot less pollution than in the big cities now isn't it? Suppose we had your attitude and lack of tolerance for a different kind of culture? Maybe for the good of the planet, (which including those cute little whitecoats) you guys should move to a location closer to your work! If you can't find a job closer than 5-15 minutes, than move! When it's thrown back at you, it's not that easy, is it? After working hard for years to build a life, buy a home and raise a family, no one wants to uproot and move from the community they love! Just in case you haven't noticed, for years Newfoundlanders have been moving away from their homeland to find employment, so much so, we are losing most of our young people! We’ve lost the majority of our youth, now you want to take away our way of life and part of a culture that is older than Canada itself! Remember, the spotlight may be on a certain part of our culture today, but it may be your turn tomorrow!
These groups like Peta, are known for their "all talk and no action" policy, (they talk only when they can incite emotion to raise money from young gullible teens and poor old seniors)! They act a few times a year on a few "Pet Project", unfortunately one happens to be the Seal Hunt! And it's no coincidence they use the whitecoat, (which is not even hunted and definitely not endangered)! They know this is a lie, but year after year they use the same old photos and slanderous remarks about us! To incite hatred in Canada is illegal, isn’t it! Shame on them! To gain perspective, maybe we should bring a cow out on the ice and slaughter it the way it's usually done. Then compare this to the quick and humane death of a seal shot in the head! Which life would you choose, a cow raised all it's life in captivity or a seal wild and free right until the end? Harvesting of any animal is never pretty, especially carried out in the open and on a white backdrop. But we are a gentle people, and humane harvesting is very important for all of us! PLEASE, before you take a stand on the Seal Hunt (or any argument) be open-minded and for God sake, do some INDEPENDANT RESEARCH! Instead of just going along with a group whose main agenda is FUNDRAISING, think for yourself! And while you’re researching the Seal Hunt, do yourself a favour and research PETA'S background.
What, a few videos are not enough to show the brutality of this archaic practice?
Wake up. It's time to look for a real job, like the rest of us, where you spend time serving and caring for others, rather than just worrying about yourself.
Seal hunting is not a sport. It's a business, it's a living, it prevents families from starving their kids and themselves. It's like any other hunt. We kill millions of chickens every day, we kill all kinds of animals for food and clothing. Guess what, seals are just another animal. But because seals are cuter than some animals it's a problem. But a cute face doesn't put food on the table or clothes on ones back. I apologize if all you regular folk out there with your "real job's" are offended but that's life.
If you really wanna stop something that is cruel and barbaric, support the end of the genocide in darfur.
The pro sealing side use the laws that govern commercial slaughters for their reasoning and give examples. whether it's a mechanical piston spike or a spike attached to a club, the skull gets crushed. And in a slaughter house the animal that is being lined up and forced into an apparatus that hold its head in place for that spike is squirming frantically for its life. IS THAT HUMANE???
A lot of the Anti-Seal hunting people here don't seem to be putting much info in their comments, and it's making the Pro-Seal hunting people look more intelligent, so rather then beginning some emotional comment I think I should add some information. For the people that say that the seals are eating all the cod, it's bull. The fisheries catch all the cod, and since there's not much left, they blame it on the seals to cover up for themselves. People automatically assume that the seals are "overpopulated" but they fail to do any research. Did you know Canadian scientists only check the seal population every 5 years? They completely ignore that some seals could have died to smaller hunts, or climate change, etc. Also, the people who make a living off killing seals, can screw themselves. Find a better way to make a life- hundreds of lives don't deserve to die so you can make something as plentiful as money (barely anyone actually even wears fur nowadays). Money really is the root of all evil in many cases. It doesn't help that clubbers decide to kill the seals in very inhumane ways- and even baby seals! For god sakes, that's no different then brutally murdering a toddler. Humans are very selfish creatures and I don't think they realize that other species can actually feel things. Humans have a social order unlike animals, they have no excuse for being uncompassionate towards animals. The amount of animals people kill a year is completely ridiculous. No animal on earth even kills probably 1/5 of how much people do yearly. They're also very overpopulated- yet, they don't have to get clubbed for that.
Ghandi said it all..."You can tell the greatness of a nation by the way it treats it's animals"
Well, all I can say is you have to answer to a higher power on judgment day!!!
BTW..Farm animals are also brutally slaughtered and this needs to stop!.
It's sad how our society has become so detached from the suffering of all animals!
There's a huge difference between:
1) Hunting seals for their fur
2) Hunting seals for their fur AND meat
The first point: Hunting an animal strictly for its fur, without using all of the animal after the kill for its meat, bones, ect., is terribly 'wrong'. The second point: if you're hunting seals for everything they have (fur, meat, bones, ect.), and then consuming the products yourself, or selling them for a profit, is a way to make a living. It's no different than farming.
There are thousands of seals killed each year, out of millions. That doesn't mean that the seal is endangered at all, in fact, they are of 'Least Concern' according to the WWF. The type of seal that hunters kill up North is the harp seal, of which not even the native Inuit or residents there find the meat very appealing at all. I guess it all comes down to a person's morals, but then if they are so concerned about the animal being killed, shouldn't you be more concerned about the polar bears who lie in wait on a seal's airhole, waiting for it to pop up so it can snag it and kill it, without the animal knowing what hit it? It's sort of the same thing, like humans killing a defenceless seal. Except you could argue that it would be the 'polar bear's nature'.
My argument for this one would be, instead of arguing about the amount of killings that happen (I would suggest that you all look into factory farming instead, to find out where your food REALLY comes from- from meat, to veggies), I am arguing that the industry isn't really viable for the Canadian economy anymore. Seal hunting, which takes place for around 6 months a year contributes to less than .5% of the total Canadian economy. Most hunters who seal hunt do not make enough money during that time that they have to take second or third jobs anyways, and the industry for seal meat and seal fur is lacking, thanks to many people protesting against the use of animal fur on clothing, bedding, ect.
The final point: there isn't really an industry for seal hunting. Canada needs to look at better alternatives, or better yet, the hunters themselves need to find better alternatives. It really doesn't contribute to the economy, and there really is no need for it. At all. Doesn't matter if the animal isn't endangered or not.
ARE U NOT GETIING IT "HUNTERS"?.... Your intruding the seals natural habitat and murdering them. And so what if the seals are overpopulating the oceans...Shall we all start killing one another off because there are too many of us in the world? And I dont believe for 1 second that this is about money. Get a Job, get 2 jobs. Dont use "hunting" as an excuse.
First of all, killing seal pups is illegal in Canada. Comparing sealing to killing babies is like comparing oranges to apples.
Secondly, I've seen some people say that the methods they use to kill the seals are inhumane. Well, what do you suggest? Lethal injections? Hanging? The electric chair?
Anyways, I believe that all the city slickers on here who believe that they wouldn't kill an animal if their survival depended on it should grow up.
Seal slaughter on this scale and with this methodology is a cruel and outdated practise. Grow some balls Mr Harper and bring your country into the 21st century.
Look Deeper.
Anti-seal-hunt commenters are just as fact based and politically correct as the hunters, yet add emotional tone to their arguments BECAUSE THEY CAN (and because they actually have them in comparison). In what possible way could a seal hunter accurately and successfully add emotional debate to his argument when he is defending the clubbing and live skinning of an animal. Not to mention that they enjoy themselves while doing it. Yes thats right, we have your smiles and laughs on camera.
The-anti-seal-hunt protestors in this debate take a massive one up on the seal hunters by providing valid fact combined with emotion, ethical duty of an evolved human society, and thought out analogies. While hunters on the other hand provide the most redneck, elementary, ignorant analogies combined with blind and false facts from false information outlets and excuses for their hunt. EXCUSES. The fact that they need excuses say it all. For every excuse there is an ALTERNATIVE HUMANE OPTION.
Is the seal hunt the world's only inhumane practice? absolutely not! Is the seal hunt Canada's only inhumane practice? absolutely not! Is the seal hunt Canada's only violation of the ethical treatment of animals in a developed society? absolutely not! Is it one of them? Damn right it is. In a developed nation we have every possible alternative in the world to make money in a humane way, that even benefits biodiversity, wildlife preservation, and ecosystem health. To say that hunting seals for fur (and **** off who ever says they use the meat and oils to, thats a strait lie, go watch yourself on youtube bashing seals skinning them live and throwing their carcass overboard to float the st. laurence) to provide income to support your family so you don't starve is certainly true. to say that its inhumane and an easy alternative for that profit can be pursued is also true. YOU HAVE THE CHOICE TO DO SOMETHING UNETHICAL OR ETHICAL. From my experience with humans, granting them the freedom to choose between unethical and ethical is a complete failure. That is why were gonna make it law baby. NO SEAL HUNTING.
Im 18 and i can tell you that when youth hear things like this they are OUTRAGED. its only a matter of their exposure to this issue before we stop it. I will keep exposing you, we all will. you should be in policed medical institutions. And hey that way you can get fed for free! don't even have to look for an alternative job!
over 90 percent of the worlds fisheries are over fished and starving from commercial fishing industries and all the in-laders who dine weekly at their soho sushi joints and geographically should not be eating fish and are the main if not only contribution to this devastating disaster. Do ya really think now its the seals eating the cod?
The seal hunters need to keep the seal population in check.
However the protesters are just as right, the way you kill the seals is sick, the human race is overpopulating the planet but your not going to go around clubbing them are you? There are much more human ways to doing this.
Bottom line, I am a 13 year old kid and I know this is wrong and I am trying to do something about it. So all you whining protesters should get off your **** and do something rather than complaining.
I find all hunting sick, having been vegetarian for almost a year and a half. All killing of animals is horrible in my point of view. The world would be a better place if everyone were vegetarians.
it shouldn't be done the animals have rights to live it should be banned forever and be illegal
to use it for coats is madness.
Sealers don't use about 80% of the seal they just massacred they only want the pelt but the kicker is that seal pelt costs have gone down drastically in the past few years, i think it would be wise for you sealers to re-train and find a more suitable job...or hobby as you seem to enjoy murdering innocent babies.
another thing for all you protesters. this whole seal hunt its bigger than just animal cruelty... if seals disappears the whole biodiversity of the area will become unstable, every animal on this planet is part of a eco system. when you take an animal away from the eco system it would cause something like a chain reaction, another thing all the worlds ecosystems are connected somehow, so what do you think is going to happen if a species disappears, then an eco system, then several eco systems... think about it
I would ask everyone to remember simply ....we too are animals.