It's Time to Stop the Canadian Seal Hunt!
It is legal in Canada to hunt harp seal pups when they begin to molt their white coats, usually at about 12 days of age. The Humane Society of the United States reports, "Ninety-five percent of the seals culled over the past five years were pups between just 12 days and 12 weeks of age, many of which had not yet eaten their first solid meal or learned to swim." They were too little to escape from the hunters.
It is not known how many seals are actually slaughtered during the hunt. It is believed more than 1 million have been slaughtered for their fur in the past 3 years. The Canadian government intends to permit the slaughter of 270,000 seals in 2007. Some escape after they are shot or stabbed but die a slow, painful death below the water's surface. The actual numbers of seals killed are thus likely much higher than the official count.
An independent team of veterinarians observed a previous seal hunt and concluded that the hunt failed to comply with even Canada's basic animal welfare regulations. This despite the effects of global warming which Humane Society of the United States estimates has resulted in "more than a quarter of the seal pups".
In this year 2007 isn't it time we stopped sanctioning such horrific cruelty to sentient beings?
Congress is considering resolutions which call on the Canadian government to end the brutal seal hunt. There are resolutions pending in both houses of Congress, S. 118 sponsored by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Joseph Biden (D-DE); and H.R. 427 sponsored by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA). S. 118 is pending before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. H.R. 427 has passed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. A complete copy of the resolution is at the end of this article.
Call on your senators to support Resolution 118. Click here to find out if your senators are already sponsors. Senate Co-Sponsors of S. 118. If not, let them know that you vote and expect them to support S. 118. Click here to find your U.S. senators. Members of the U.S. Senate
Call on your U.S. representative to support H.R. 427. Click here to find out if your representative is a co-sponsor of H.R. 427. Co-Sponsors of H.R. 427 Click here to find and contact your U.S. representative. Members of U.S. House of Representatives
The International Fund for Animal Welfare invited a team of veterinarians to watch the massacre of the seals. These veterinarians have reported this so-called "hunt" fails to comply with Canadian law. They believe 43% of these beautiful animals were probably skinned alive. HSUS reports, "Video evidence clearly shows sealers routinely dragging conscious pups across the ice with boathooks, shooting seals and leaving them to suffer in agony" as they are then skinned alive and tossed back into the water.
The seal massacre has actually expanded in recent years. Hunters claim they should be able to slaughter the seals which they claim have depleted the cod population. In fact, two reports by Canadian government marine scientists reveal the cod is gone because of over-fishing. Seals actually eat predators of cod such as squid. If there are no seals, any recovery of cod stocks will likely be hindered.
It is not clear why Canada allows this hunt" with its horrific cruelty to continue. Sealing comprises a tiny fraction of the fishing industry. It brings in no more than a few million dollars each year to Canada. More than 90% of sealers live in Newfoundland; only about 2% of their income is from seals. Sealing accounts for less than one-tenth of 1% of Newfoundland's economy.
HSUS reports, "Scientists around the world have condemned the Canadian government's management plan for harp seals as reckless, unsustainable, and irresponsible." Nearly 80% of those polled in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Netherlands who were aware of the seal hunt, opposed it. (MORI, 2002). 79% of U.S. voters oppose the Canadian seal hunt (Penn, Schoen & Berland, 2002). Most Canadians believe seals should not be hunted until they are over one year old.
Animal welfare groups have reportedly documented more than 700 alleged violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations under the Fisheries Act ( R.S., 1985, c. F-14 ) that govern the seal hunt. HSUS reports these violations include "sealers failing to ensure the seals were dead prior to hooking and dragging them, and sealers clubbing seals on the face, jaw and neck instead of the skull."
Canada has few regulations for the seal massacre. Here are the only regulations that even touch on any concern about avoiding torture of these animals:
"Every person who strikes a seal with a club or hakapik shall strike the seal on the forehead until its skull has been crushed and shall manually check the skull, or administer a blinking reflex test, to confirm that the seal is dead before proceeding to strike another seal.
If a firearm is used to fish for a seal, the person who shoots that seal or retrieves it shall administer a blinking reflex test as soon as possible after it is shot to confirm that it is dead.
Every person who administers a blinking reflex test on a seal that elicits a blink shall immediately strike the seal with a club or hakapik on the forehead until its skull has been crushed, and the blinking reflex test confirms that the seal is dead."
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans ("DFO") which is supposed to enforce these pathetic regulations has not filed any charges against any of the hunters. Animal welfare groups report the DFO seems more intent on preventing observation of the massacre.
For more information on the lives of these beautiful animals, click here. Information About Seals
To learn why a boycott of Canadian seafood may help stop this slaughter, click here. Boycott Canadian Seafood
Here is a copy of the Resolution. Please urge Congress to pass this resolution.
Urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial seal hunt.
Whereas on November 15, 2006, the Government of Canada opened a commercial hunt for seals in the waters off the east coast of Canada;
Whereas an international outcry regarding the plight of the seals hunted in Canada resulted in the 1983 ban by the European Union of whitecoat and blueback seal skins and the subsequent collapse of the commercial seal hunt in Canada;
Whereas the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) bars the import into the United States of any seal products;
Whereas in February 2003, the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada authorized the highest quota for harp seals in Canadian history, allowing nearly 1,000,000 seals to be killed over a 3-year period;
Whereas more than 1,000,000 seals have been killed over the past 3 years;
Whereas harp seal pups can legally be hunted in Canada as soon as they have begun to molt their white coats at approximately 12 days of age;
Whereas 95 percent of the seals killed over the past 5 years were pups between just 12 days and 12 weeks of age, many of which had not yet eaten their first solid meal or taken their first swim;
Whereas a report by an independent team of veterinarians invited to observe the hunt by the International Fund for Animal Welfare concluded that the seal hunt failed to comply with basic animal welfare regulations in Canada and that governmental regulations regarding humane killing were not being respected or enforced;
Whereas the veterinary report concluded that as many as 42 percent of the seals studied were likely skinned while alive and conscious;
Whereas the commercial slaughter of seals in the Northwest Atlantic is inherently cruel, whether the killing is conducted by clubbing or by shooting;
Whereas many seals are shot in the course of the hunt, but escape beneath the ice where they die slowly and are never recovered, and these seals are not counted in official kill statistics, making the actual kill level far higher than the level that is reported;
Whereas the commercial hunt for harp and hooded seals is a commercial slaughter carried out almost entirely by non-Native people from the East Coast of Canada for seal fur, oil, and penises (used as aphrodisiacs in some Asian markets);
Whereas the fishing and sealing industries in Canada continue to justify the expanded seal hunt on the grounds that the seals in the Northwest Atlantic are preventing the recovery of cod stocks, despite the lack of any credible scientific evidence to support this claim;
Whereas two Canadian government marine scientists reported in 1994 that the true cause of cod depletion in the North Atlantic was over-fishing, and the consensus among the international scientific community is that seals are not responsible for the collapse of cod stocks;
Whereas harp and hooded seals are a vital part of the complex ecosystem of the Northwest Atlantic, and because the seals consume predators of commercial cod stocks, removing the seals might actually inhibit recovery of cod stocks;
Whereas certain ministries of the Government of Canada have stated clearly that there is no evidence that killing seals will help groundfish stocks to recover; and
Whereas the persistence of this cruel and needless commercial hunt is inconsistent with the well-earned international reputation of Canada: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate urges the Government of Canada to end the commercial hunt on seals that opened in the waters off the east coast of Canada on November 15, 2006.