I've just realized that...

[Jesse]

Hey guys, I just realized that the Killing of Seals was active in Canada.
I did not know about this since im on Philippines, and i never heard anything about it. But until then my friend posted an article on a social networking site.

Anways, i hope the Government Officials would do something to stop this.

I've also created an article on my blog, see it here.
http://jmanalansan.com/2009/04/26/stop-the-killing-of-seals-in-canada/

 

[jmcs23]

unfortunately, many animal species are targeted for various purposes by humans.
but, getting people to see what is going on and realizing how bad it is, is the first step toward change.

 

[chejo76]

unfortunately, many animal species are targeted for various purposes by humans.
but, getting people to see what is going on and realizing how bad it is, is the first step toward change.

I agree.

There is an online petition to stop this nonsense hunt, and the first step to stop it is taking action:

http://www.stopthesealhunt.com/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=ihKPIWPCIqE&b=2580449

 

[zen-r]

Unfortunately, you may find animal abuse a lot closer to home than you realise.

Modern farming techniques often involve the suffering of animals in their breeding & throughout their lives. The cases which are often given as examples include battery farmed animals (chickens etc), veal & foie gras etc, but there are many other examples less obvious.

Animals are bred to be "efficient" for humans purposes, but actually so distorted from their natural form that they couldn't survive in the wild. Chickens & other animals are force-grown at such an alarming rate (prior to being killed very early in their miserable lives, but still prematurely fully grown) so that their bone are weak & fragile. People may be surprised to learn that even cows, who they thought have a nice life in the fields, are also the victim of our cruelty. Here's a quote from another site ;

"Today's mother cows are treated like milk machines—confined to dirty concrete stalls for months at a time, their udders are so swollen that they sometimes drag on the ground. Cows give milk for the same reasons humans do—for their babies. To keep milk production high, cows are kept pregnant, and their calves are taken away at one to two days and bartered for a few pounds. They are no more than a waste by-product of the industry. The milk nature meant for them ends up on our supermarket shelves instead.

Because cows are re-impregnated while still making milk from the pregnancy that has just ended, they often become seriously run-down and emaciated. Often, their back and hip bones can be seen starkly protruding. When they are no longer profitable milk machines, the spent cows are 'culled'. Many will be exhausted and leaking milk through distended udders by the time they are trucked out to the slaughterhouse."

If you must eat meat, please show compassion & look into what you are buying, where it came from & what sort of life the animal had to endure for you.

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[digitalimages]

Check with the families who's survival depends on the seal hunt (or any other hunt) and I don't think they will agree that it is "nonsense"
It is very easy for outsiders to jump on the bandwagon of the animal rights movment without having first hand knowledge of what they speak.
I do agree that in the past some of the "hunting" practices were not the best but that doesn't mean that the hunt (which keeps the seal population under control) is all bad. People see a cute seal pup and get all worked up that they may be killed in limited numbers just as cute "lambs", "piglets", ducks, etc. etc. are... (what is the favorite meat of choice in the Philippines) take a look at what you eat and if you are pure enough that you can say that you do not depend on the slaughtering of any living thing for survival then you may have a small right to complain about something that you only know of by hear say.
check this out:
http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/cruelty_issues_around_the_world/dog_meat_campaign.html
Perhaps you should start blogging about that instead of seals!!

 

[aushol]

Please save the seals.

 

[omaras]

who cears about this ugly animal

joke

 

[bazranz]

Check with the families who's survival depends on the seal hunt (or any other hunt) and I don't think they will agree that it is "nonsense"
It is very easy for outsiders to jump on the bandwagon of the animal rights movment without having first hand knowledge of what they speak.
I do agree that in the past some of the "hunting" practices were not the best but that doesn't mean that the hunt (which keeps the seal population under control) is all bad. People see a cute seal pup and get all worked up that they may be killed in limited numbers just as cute "lambs", "piglets", ducks, etc. etc. are... (what is the favorite meat of choice in the Philippines) take a look at what you eat and if you are pure enough that you can say that you do not depend on the slaughtering of any living thing for survival then you may have a small right to complain about something that you only know of by hear say.
check this out:
http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane...ssues_around_the_world/dog_meat_campaign.html
Perhaps you should start blogging about that instead of seals!!

Your argument sounds reasonable, until you look at the situation in Africa where whole family groups of gorillas or chimpanzees are slaughtered, not to feed a human family, but to sell the meat in the markets, or the slaughter of the orangutan in Borneo and Sumatra so we can have products which contain palm oil. The orphans of these groups of great apes being left to die, or caged as a family pet.

I have no problem with indeginous people killing to survive, but killing for profit or personal gain or to settle some multi national corporations greed is wrong and ever shall be. Unfortunately many of these large corporations justify themselves by saying that they are giving work to the natives, when in fact they are destroying the natives lifestyle too.

 

[digitalimages]

Your argument sounds reasonable, until you look at the situation in Africa where whole family groups of gorillas or chimpanzees are slaughtered, not to feed a human family, but to sell the meat in the markets, or the slaughter of the orangutan in Borneo and Sumatra so we can have products which contain palm oil. The orphans of these groups of great apes being left to die, or caged as a family pet.

I have no problem with indeginous people killing to survive, but killing for profit or personal gain or to settle some multi national corporations greed is wrong and ever shall be. Unfortunately many of these large corporations justify themselves by saying that they are giving work to the natives, when in fact they are destroying the natives lifestyle too.

I know that this can be a very 'emotional' subject just like religion.
I do agree with you on the some of the things that go on in Africa but Africa isn't the only place and the "apes"are not the only species that get targeted (example bears for their gall bladders). However the seal hunt can not be compared to any of these activities. The seal hunt, (i.e. the hunting of seal pups), has been going on for centuries and still the seal population continues to multiply. Just as in "fishing" there are quotas, without this culling of the seal herd, seals would multiply to numbers that would ultimately threaten their survival as they depend on fish, (which unfortunately have been over fished [namely cod] in this area) and are in very limited numbers and the higher the concentrations of any animal spices the greater chance for major outbreaks of disease in that population and this would not only affect the pups but the breeding herd as well.
I am not involved in the seal hunt, as I live over a thousand miles inland of the east coast, but I am a Canadian and I very much object to people condeming my country and protesting something that they have not seen first hand or something that they have no knowledge of other than what some animal rights group tries to force upon everyone. What got me going was the original poster's, (who lives in the Philippines), condemnation of something that they know nothing of when their own country has it's own issues concerning animal rights. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!!
I was raised on a farm and farmed for most of my adult life and our animals were always looked after, often before we looked after our own needs. When you depend on animals for your livelihood you learn very quickly that the better you treat them the better they treat you. I do acknowledge that today there are very large "factory" farms that treat animals only as an object to make money with and have very little concern for what their practises do to the animal.
Now I am going to carefully climb down from my soapbox and relax....at my age I can't take a lot of this excitement!!

 

[zen-r]

digitalimages - Some fair & balanced points.

Rest assured, no-one as far as I could see was condemning your whole country - just those particular actions were coming under criticism.

Whilst I would agree that the culling is no different to many other similar methods that mankind has for "controlling" animals, it doesn't make it acceptable or even logical. The seal population would find its own natural balance (between ever-increasing numbers, & the food resources which could support that population) without man's intervention - their survival wouldn't be threatened. As with all animal & plant populations in nature, an equilibrium is always eventually reached. Your reference to disease control is a red-herring - again, disease would play its part in maintaining the population balance as with any other animal population.

As you point out, over-fishing is the real problem. It is likely that which is the real issue behind the culling. Until we learn not to over-fish, & share our resources with other animals on this planet, I suspect this problem will continue. Unfortunately, mankind seems incapable of learning this fact though, & historically has always harvested plants, animals, minerals etc to the point at which irreparable damage has been done - before we have bothered to take notice. Pollution & global warming being the most recent (& potentially most severe) case in point.

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[digitalimages]

Just a few statistics to put the "harp" seal hunt in perspective.
Approximately 500,000 seal pups are born each year.
The adult harp seal population (one yr and older) is estimated at 2,000,000
the annual seal harvest in Canada is around 60,000 which is regulated (since 1984) and controlled by quota.
With natural predators and death due to natural causes and the controlled hunt the population continues to grow by over 250,000 per year
Ironically most of the seal products are marketed through the EU which just recently (today) has banned all trade in seal products. This will include seal fur and omega-3 pills.
I can assure everyone if seal pups were not so "cute" the animal rights movement would not have jumped on the bandwagon. They did nothing to stop the over fishing of the cod population or are they doing anything to stop the tuna slaughter. Both these fisheries are endangered.....but then again a tuna or a cod isn't cute!!!
Concerned about animal rights and species extinction, or opportunists???

 

[zen-r]

"the population continues to grow by over 250,000 per year" - thus indicating that the current culling measures are a waste of time as a means of population control.

"the EU which just recently (today) has banned all trade in seal products" - is this a strong enough message to you that the practice is unacceptable to most people?

"if seal pups were not so "cute" the animal rights movement would not have jumped on the bandwagon" - not true, though I accept that many ordinary people who would not normally care about the welfare of non-cute animals, have been more affected by the disturbing images of the slaughter than they would otherwise have been. Perhaps the animal rights people have tried to use this opportunity to motivate people into becoming more aware of these, & then the wider issues.

"They did nothing to stop the over fishing of the cod population or are they doing anything to stop the tuna slaughter" - I don't know what planet you are living on, but on my planet there have been campaigns running on these issues for as many years back as I can remember. Some people, & countries, have been slower to take notice than others. As with most issues such as this unfortunately, the fact that there are campaigns running to get things changed doesn't mean that anything much gets fixed any time soon. The public are notoriously intransigent & apathetic until the problem rears up & bites them on the a**.

"Concerned about animal rights and species extinction, or opportunists???" - people concerned about, & who are active in animal welfare rarely profit from it - most are volunteers & are prepared to give up their own time & money for something they believe in. Far more often, the only exploiters are those prepared to "harvest" animals in whatever sick way they want to, in order to realise the maximum profit margin for themselves.

Next?

 

[digitalimages]

Zen...this discussion could go on for ever...and we would never agree....so this is my last response to your "NEXT"
As far as I'm concerned the ONLY issue here is how to harvest seals, not IF to harvest seals. The hunting of seals is no less humane than catching a fish in a net along with a lot of other species and letting it die a slow death or throwing it live into a huge hold and then cutting it's head off while still alive. If we as humans look at every practise involving animals, there would always be controversy about if a certain method of "killing" is humane....we seem not to have the same concern about killing each other these days.

"thus indicating that the current culling measures are a waste of time as a means of population control"...no thus indicating that the current seal hunt is not having any affect on the harp seal population and can be sustained

"is this a strong enough message to you that the practice is unacceptable to most people?"....NO..this indicates that the EU is caving in, and has been influenced by a very small, but very vocal group of animal rights activists, mostly wealthy individuals, who have the resourses to make sure that their message get's heard and who have taken the Canadian hunt on, often endangering those taking part in the hunt. (check out the court case involving animal rights activists currently underway). Not all EU members agree, as a statement from the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs said: "An EU ban on trade in seal products could restrict our freedom to manage our own marine resources. Norwegian sealing takes a sustainable and modern approach to harvesting marine resources. We expect the EU to take due account of the scientific basis for Norwegian sealing. The ban is a serious challenge for us as a close partner of the EU."

"I accept that many ordinary people who would not normally care about the welfare of non-cute animals, have been more affected by the disturbing images of the slaughter than they would otherwise have been. Perhaps the animal rights people have tried to use this opportunity to motivate people into becoming more aware of these, & then the wider issues"...what wider issues.....the seal hunt is the only one that continues to get the massive media attention and have the massive amount of dollars spent on anti sealing publicity....although the Japanese whale hunt is just as barbaric, but continues to take place under the guise of "scientific research"....(no killing of any animal can happen without eliciting emotion...at least from me....I am not a hunter of anything..never have been..I am very opposed to those who hunt for a "trophy" to put on their wall or to make a notch in their gun belt but that continues)....

"there have been campaigns running on these issues for as many years back as I can remember". ....apparently these don't have the same impact as the images of a cute seal pup...or just maybe the animal rights groups have not poured as many millions into those campaigns and are just giving lip service to maintain the impression that they are "all" caring when in fact they are very selective in what "cause" they take on. They only take on those that will give "them" the greatest exposure!!

"people concerned about, & who are active in animal welfare rarely profit" ....how do you know this? from personal experience? or from hearsay....

"in order to realise the maximum profit margin for themselves"...I can assure you that those who harvest seals from Newfoundland - Labrador do NOT make a huge profit from this fishery....and yes the seal hunt is considered a fishery....most live at or just above the poverty level...just able to support their families......a wage that I would guess is much lower than what you would be accustomed to or accept

THE END!! but I'm sure you will want to have the "last" word

 

[zen-r]

"I'm sure you will want to have the "last" word" Unlike you then! Well, since you insist ............

"and we would never agree" - I actually do agree with some points you have made, just not all of them. And I respect the way you have made & explained your arguments.

"there would always be controversy about if a certain method of "killing" is humane" - agreed. That's not to say, though, that we shouldn't always evaluate our behaviour & keep looking for ways to improve upon it as we become hopefully more civilised & respecting of the other life we share this planet with. Yes, our treatment of many other animals is also inhumane &/or unacceptable. I have already made that point myself.

"no thus indicating that the current seal hunt is not having any affect on the harp seal population and can be sustained" - I wasn't aware that this discussion was about sustainability of the seal slaughter. Had you not noticed that others here were more concerned about the seals welfare? My point that the current culling measures are a waste of time as a means of population control was in response to your earlier reasoning that the culling was being legitimately used as a means of population control.

"NO..this indicates that the EU is caving in, and has been influenced by a very small......" - mere speculation. If they are that easily influenced by a minority, why hasn't all the might & resources of the Canadian government & people won the vote?

"the seal hunt is the only one that continues to get the massive media attention" - nonsense. Maybe in Canada, if that is the only issue important to its people. But in the rest of the world, at least here in the UK, many other issues are regularly being publicised. The whale hunt issue that you mention, for example, has been strongly publicised & fought over for many years. The fact that Japan continues to do it exasperates me, but I guess they don't care about world opinion & are a law unto themselves.

"They only take on those that will give "them" the greatest exposure!!" - nonsense. You're rambling now! It would be unfair if the Canadian sealers were being singled out when there is also much to be dealt with elsewhere. But I don't believe this is the case - at least not by the people promoting animal welfare. The fact that more members of the public may pick up on the seal story because of their cuteness is true. And it annoys me when those same people may be unaware or even responsible for cruelty elsewhere. Which is why I made my first post here.

""people concerned about, & who are active in animal welfare rarely profit" ....how do you know this? from personal experience? or from hearsay...." - I know, the same way you know all the "facts" you are quoting. I think the fact that the majority of people involved are volunteers may be a clue as to the fact that they don't profit!

"do NOT make a huge profit from this fishery" - fair point. But to me this is not the issue. One has to set standards of human behaviour which are & are not acceptable. Otherwise, the "anything goes" attitude would take over in most poor parts of the world. I would rather assist the poor in trying to help them find & develop acceptable & responsible means of making a living, than defend & let them get away with anything. What if the poorest Canadians there decided to start up a human slave trade using the wealthier Canadians as slaves? Would this be acceptable because they were poor & needed to survive?

"a wage that I would guess is much lower than what you would be accustomed to or accept" - you guess wrong. But that is largely irrelevant.

As I said, I did not single out the seal hunt myself for criticism. Yes, there are plenty of worse issues to be addressed. But that does not, & should not, mean that it shouldn't be looked at, discussed, & if necessary criticised. And since this thread was started anyway, why not contribute?

......(feel free to have the last word!........)