By Rebecca Aldworth
MONTREAL – Right now, seals are giving birth to their pups on the
ice floes off Canada's East Coast. The seal nursery that forms is one
of the greatest wildlife spectacles on Earth. The sun gleams across icy
landscapes and open water, the only sounds are the soft cries of the
newborn seals. In this magical scene, serene mother seals lie contentedly
and peacefully with their nursing pups.
It is a sight that tourists from across the globe pay thousands of dollars
for the privilege of witnessing - one that brings substantial revenue to
coastal communities in eastern Canada.
But just days later, the peace of the ice is shattered as seal hunters
descend on the defenseless pups, and the nursery is turned into an
open-air slaughterhouse.
Beginning in the last week of March, hundreds of thousands of seal
pups will be clubbed and shot to death in Canada's annual commercial
seal hunt. It is an industrial-scale slaughter that targets the animals for
their fur, and leaves their carcasses to rot on the ice. With more than
300,000 pups allowed to be killed this year, it has become the largest
slaughter of marine mammals on earth.
Though while I was growing up in a Newfoundland fishing community,
like most Canadians, I never saw the seal hunt. The slaughter of harp
and hooded seals is something that occurs far offshore on the ice floes
- well away from the eyes of the public.
But for the past six years, I have traveled to the ice floes and observed
the seal hunt at close range.
The majority of the seals killed are less than one month old; these pups,
newly separated from their mothers, are defenseless and have no escape.
And they are treated brutally. In 2001, an independent team of
veterinarians was escorted to the ice floes by the International Fund for
Animal Welfare. They studied Canada's commercial seal hunt at close
range. Their report concluded that up to 42 percent of the seals they
studied had probably been skinned alive while conscious - a clear
violation of Canada's criminal code and marine mammal regulations that
govern the hunt.
The violent images of the hunt - gunshots, clubbings, and the sounds of
animals in pain - are vivid memories I can never erase. I carry them with
me as I work to end this slaughter. And it is my hope that goal is finally
within reach.
Sealing is an off-season activity conducted by a few thousand fishermen
from Canada's East Coast. According to media reports and government
data, they make, on average, only 5 percent of their total incomes from
sealing - the rest comes from commercial fisheries.
When the first pup is clubbed or shot to death on the ice at the end of
March, the Humane Society of the United States, with a network of
powerful organizations that includes the Massachusetts Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Born Free Foundation, will
launch a global boycott of Canadian seafood.
We are asking Americans not to buy Canadian seafood products, such
as snow crabs, until the commercial seal hunt is ended for good.
American consumers can easily identify Canadian seafood products,
which are labeled clearly in all major grocery stores.
Such a boycott - if well supported - would show the Canadian government
and fishing industry that continuing the seal hunt is not worth the potential
impact of this campaign.
As I and many others leave for the ice floes next week to again bear
witness to this slaughter, we are asking Americans to stand with the
Humane Society of the United States in our campaign to save the seals.
Together, we can put this cruel, outdated slaughter back into the history
books where it belongs.
• Rebecca Aldworth is director of Canadian wildlife issues for the
Humane Society of the United States.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0318/p09s01-coop.html
Seal Hunt Facts Canada Doesn't Want You to Know
Canada's Seal Hunt: "Unacceptably Inhumane"
"The Canadian government insists that the seal hunt is an animal
production industry like any other. They say that it might not be
pretty, but basically it is just like any abattoir except on the ice.
But we found obvious levels of suffering which would not be
tolerated in any other animal industry in the world."
Ian Robinson, British Veterinarian
Two separate veterinary reports that studied the 2001 seal hunt,
one commissioned by the Canadian government, show numerous
instances where animals were clubbed or shot and not rendered
immediately unconscious.
............
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=85064
True Confessions: Sealers Testify to the Cruelty of the Hunt
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=85070
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the Seal Hunt
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=85075
The Dangers of The Commercial Seal Trade
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=85076 >> Stay informed about: Stop Canada's Cruel And Senseless Baby Seal Hunt 
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