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Call for End of Canada's Commercial Seal Hunt |
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Written by Wire Services
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Tuesday, 15 November 2005 |
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 Coinciding with the official opening day of the 2005-2006 commercial sealing season, The Humane Society of the United States today released a ground-breaking report by Oxford University Professor Rev. Andrew Linzey who argues that Canada's commercial seal hunt cannot be morally justified and that basic principles of humane slaughter are violated in the course of the hunt.
"Because of the physical environment in which it operates, and the way in which it must be conducted in order to be commercially viable, Canada's seal hunt is and must always be inhumane," states Linzey. "The Canadian Government should make the commercial seal hunt illegal."
The report, entitled Public Morality and the Canadian Seal Hunt, has been endorsed by over 65 leading academics, some from Canada, including best- selling author and Nobel Laureate John Coatzee. The report was published jointly by The HSUS and Respect for Animals. It will be presented to parliamentarians in Europe and Canada, as well as representatives of the U.S. government.
Canada's commercial seal hunt is by far the world's largest and most brutal slaughter of marine mammals. Over the past three years, nearly one million seal pups have been slaughtered for their fur, and official Department of Fisheries and Oceans kill reports confirm 97 percent of them were less than three months of age. Veterinary studies and video evidence show routine violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations at the commercial seal hunt, including the skinning of live seals.
The HSUS points out that in addition to the signatories of the report, support for a ban on the seal hunt is coming from governments worldwide. The Italian Parliament, the British House of Commons, and members of the United States Senate have all conveyed to Canada their opposition to the commercial seal slaughter.
In March 2005, The Humane Society of the United States launched a global boycott of Canadian seafood products. One of the primary species targeted has been Canadian snow crabs, which account for half of the value of Newfoundland's fishery. Not surprisingly, in the months since the boycott was launched, the value of Canadian snow crab exports to the United States has declined by $156 million - a 36 percent decline and nearly ten times the value of the seal hunt.
"Public Morality and the Canadian Seal Hunt shows that Canada has the ethical imperative to end the commercial seal hunt. Now, it also has a clear economic reason to do so," concluded Grandy. |
