Old Canadian tradition involves killing baby seals
Canada’s annual seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on Earth. Last year, the world looked on in horror as the Canadian government permitted the slaughter of more than 330,000 harp seals. During the hunt, baby seals are shot or repeatedly clubbed. Sealers bludgeon the animals with clubs and “hakapiks” (clubs with metal hooks on their ends) and drag the seals—who are still conscious—across the ice floes with boat hooks. An estimated 42 percent of the animals are skinned alive. Hunters toss dead and dying seals into heaps and leave their carcasses to rot on the ice floes because there is no market for seal meat. Veterinarians who have investigated the hunt have found that hunters routinely fail to comply with Canada’s animal welfare standards.
It is legal in Canada to kill seal pups when they are about 12 days old. During last year’s hunt, almost all the seals killed were 3 months old or younger. Many had not yet learned how to swim or eaten their first solid meals. Baby seals are helpless and have no way to escape from the sealers’ clubs.
Mar 21st, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Hey it beats the Hell out of the american tradition of killing innocent people and babys !!!!!
Mar 21st, 2007 at 7:12 pm
lol.
the seal hunt has a quota, to ensure that these seals don’t overpopulate (which they do),
the video and article is opinion. we hunt club the baby seals in our ancient right of passage ritual to make men of ours boys, and women of our girls. the seals threaten our frontier, and must be kept in check, lest they destroy first our cities, then yours!
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 12:25 am
ah its to ensure the quota so they dont overpopulate, so we should have a human hunt cause humans are way over populated and have been for a long time let hunting begin.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 3:59 am
Okay ur saying that we should kill seals? Lol u really dont even make sense. We need to have a pop. control on the seals? Rofl wat about the human race, i would rather we would be killed even though it doesnt sound humane but still the point is we should be worrying about the human population instead of others let them mass produce….. and let us stop mass producing we should follow the rules of Japan 1 child per family ^_^
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 4:06 am
First, this article is so flawed I don’t know where to start.
1. “During the hunt, baby seals are shot or repeatedly clubbed.” It’s been illegal for 20 years.
2. “permitted the slaughter of more than 330,000 harp seals” Yup and there were about 1,000,000 new pups too. Population still going up.
3. “Sealers bludgeon the animals with clubs and “hakapiks” “> True, but it was proven to be even more humane to the animal than a riffle shot because it is more precise.
4. “and drag the seals—who are still conscious—across the ice floes with boat hooks” When they club a seal, it is dead within 2 seconds. When you see the seal flopping around, it’s the muscles draining. Every animal does that. Have you been to a slaughter house lately?
5. “An estimated 42 percent of the animals are skinned alive.” Who estimated that? It is scientifically proven that the animal is dead within 2 seconds of being clubbed. Plus hunter always make a reflex test prior to skinning to make sure the animal is dead. It’s a law.
6. “Hunters toss dead and dying seals into heaps and leave their carcasses to rot on the ice floes because there is no market for seal meat.” False. You can buy seal meat from Les Iles de la Madeleine.
7. “Many had not yet learned how to swim” The youngest that are killed are called beaters because of the way they swim, They slap their tales in the water.
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Mar 22nd, 2007 at 8:07 am
I appreciate all your comments. Especially the ones from Canada, as they know better what is happening in their country. Thank you.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Kill them ALL, every last one that will solve the population problem and shut up the protesters. If I could get the time off work I would personally go up there and club seals till my arm went numb, It looks like a lot of fun and I’m sure they make a cool sound when you crack their skulls.
PS… My comment was a joke and I really don’t fell that way, I just like stirring the pot.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Hmmm…what about all the cows that are killed each day?
Unless you are a vegetarian, how can a person complain about the seals??
Mar 23rd, 2007 at 7:31 pm
What the hell is with that video? They’re saying that the seal would rather swim and swim around in the open water searching for ice until it becomes exausted and drowns and washes up on the shore to rot and have it’s cute little carcass pecked at by gulls. (Something that I’ve seen many times considering I live in Newfoundland. ) As opposed to being clubbed and dieing before it can register any pain and then have all parts of it put to good use, the meat is eaten, the pelts are used to make clothes, the fat is used to make oil that is often used in medicines and cosmetics, even the bones can be used to make medicine and other things as well.
Not to mention the fact that the seal population absolutely needs to be controled. They overpopulate too rapidly for their food source to keep up - the almost extinct Cod fish (thanks to foreign trawlers) so then the seals will starve to death and their wasted carcasses will again be washed up on shore to be pecked at by gulls.
Oh by the way, I adore the image of “The big bad sealer” in that video- one guy on a boat with a gun. HA! They don’t do that for many reasons, it’s less acurate and the seal may not die completely, it would ruin the pelt and meat, half of them would be lost in the water and washed up on shore to rot AGAIN. Killing whitecoats- the cute white baby ones that you see on all of the save the seals campaigns- is and has been illeagal for over 20 years!
The thing that you have to understand is that sealing isn’t an “Old Canadian Tradition” at all! It’s the processing of a natural reasorce in Canada, just like fishing or cattle farming. People need to stop being so gullible and stop believing everything that they hear or read from misinformed sources.
I think part of the problem is that people assume that since seals don’t inhabit wherever they live, then they must be rare or endangered. So no wonder they’re shocked to find out that they’re annually hunted. But that is completely incorrect. They’re not endangered at all, they’re dangerously abundant infact. Of course you don’t see them where you live, they’re all up north where there’s lots of ice.
Mar 24th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
canadians rule, keep clubbin boys!, all this article did is make me wanna try some seal, i wonder how seal tastes, espically young clubbed to death seal lol
Jun 11th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
When I read that harsh writing, and look at the videom yes I do tend to go, “Oh my word. That is terrible!” But some of what you said is not true. And it’s just like us killing cows and pigs for food. It’s something we need to do. So everyone just stop whinning like a baby and let them do it, as long as they do it properly.
Nov 12th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
thats so ewwwww nasty y would u do that????o well geas we will just have to live with it