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Sullivan couldn't bear to watch seal kill footage
- Photo REUTERS
It has been reported to the Coalition that at a public hearing
in Brussels on January 21st, as Rebecca Aldworth of Humane Society
International Canada showed seal hunt footage, Canadian Ambassador
of Fisheries Conservation Loyola Sullivan turned away, unwilling
to watch the footage. Someone sitting near Sullivan watched as he
kept his face averted until the film had concluded.
Sullivan was part of a Canadian delegation at the public hearing
held in Brussels, where speakers made their case for and against
commercial seal hunting. Sullivan's group was present to promote
the inherently inhumane Canadian commercial seal hunt as a humane
and regulated activity.
Grey seals killed with wooden bats
on Hay Island, Nova Scotia in 2008
- Photo HSI Canada
Why did Sullivan refuse to watch the footage? Was he afraid of
the revulsion that surely would have registered on his face as he
watched the brutal fashion in which Canadian sealers kill defenceless
seal pups? Or perhaps he simply didn’t care. Personally, I
hope the volume was turned up so he could not escape the haunting
screams of terrified pups and the sickening sound of clubs hitting
skulls - I myself will never be able to escape the memory of what
I've seen and heard during my observation of the commercial seal
hunt in recent years. If Sullivan had the guts to watch the footage,
he would have noticed that the footage is current - not the "30
year old footage" Canadian government officials accuse animal
protection groups of using.
Considering Sullivan is in Europe once again to make false representations
to the European Commission that commercial seal hunting in Canada
is conducted in a humane fashion, he could have at the very least
had the decency to watch the horror that he was so strenuously defending.
Shea gives thumbs-up to seal hunt despite ignorance of facts - Photo
REUTERS
Sullivan is not the only Canadian politician showing an unwillingness
to face the cruel reality of the very seal hunt they defend and
promote. Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea recently
showed a woeful ignorance of the methods used by Canadian sealers.
Sealers had expressed concern that recent proposed amendments to
the Marine Mammal Regulations would prove dangerous if they were
forced to go onto the ice to retrieve seals. Shea responded to these
concerns on January 6th with the statement, “I have never
witnessed the seal hunt, but I assume they have to go over the side
anyway to get the seal”.
Sealers gaffing and hauling seal
pup in 2006 - Photo Respect for Animals
Minister Shea seems unaware that it is common practice for sealers
to shoot pups and retrieve them from the ice without leaving the
boat. When seal pups are “hunted” using firearms, they
are immobilized by a bullet and lay suffering on the ice while the
boat makes its way to them. Sometimes ice conditions do not permit
sealers to get onto the ice to retrieve the pups. Even when ice
conditions do permit, some sealers prefer to remain in
the boat. To retrieve pups from the boat, sealers use a gaff (a
long pole with large metal hook attached) to stab the wounded pups
- oftentimes still conscious and struggling - through the face and
haul them onboard, where the pups may then be beaten with a hakapik
or club, or simply tossed in a pile of dead and dying seals. This
is an extremely inhumane practice that has been criticized by international
veterinarians, yet is legal under Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations.
The Canadian government has ignored this criticism and under the
amended Marine Mammal Regulations, this practice will continue.
Sealer gaffing and dragging conscious
seal pup in 2008 - Photo IFAW
On January 13th Minister Shea told media that Canada’s commercial
seal hunt was "consistent with animal welfare standards".
How would she know? By her own admission, she has never witnessed
it herself, and her own words illustrate her ignorance of the cruel
methods used by sealers. I encourage everyone to contact
Minister Shea to ask her how she can continue to defend the
commercial seal hunt when she obviously is not in possession of
even basic facts, such as methods used to kill seals.
Coalition member Camille Labchuk with
baby harp seal in 2008 - Photo HSI
The Canadian commercial seal hunt is an inherently inhumane, ecologically
unsound and economically unnecessary activity. Polling consistently
shows that the majority of Canadians oppose the seal hunt, yet billions
of our tax dollars are spent subsidizing the annual slaughter. Killing
seals is an off-season activity for a tiny percentage of the total
population of Atlantic Canada. The money sealers earn killing seals
represents a fraction of their annual income, the bulk of which
is derived from participating in more lucrative fisheries such as
crab, shrimp and lobster. There are viable alternatives to killing
seals, such as license buy-back programs. To date, the government
and sealing industry have refused to consider such alternatives,
preferring instead to squander billions of our tax dollars on a
"make work project" for a select group of Atlantic Canadians.
World Day of Action Against Seal Hunting
Halifax, Nova Scotia 2008 - Photo ACASC
Government officials are ignoring the wishes of the majority of
Canadians and using our tax dollars to fund its campaign of deliberate
misinformation at home and abroad, promoting the commercial seal
hunt as a humane and regulated activity. It adds insult to injury
that these officials display such wanton igorance of basic facts
surrounding the seal hunt, and a singular arrogance in denying the
obvious, insisting the inherently inhumane commercial seal hunt
is acceptable and necessary. I urge everyone to write to the Canadian
Prime Minister
and their Member
of Parliament to insist the Canadian government respect the
wishes of the majority of Canadians, discontinue the use of our
tax dollars for such a despicable purpose, abolish the cruel seal
hunt and implement viable alternatives. |
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