IFAW Hunt Watch 2009: First stage closes - nearly 20,000 seals killed
The Canadian government has sanctioned the hunt of 280,000 seal pups...for pelts.
Seriously?!?! Seriously?!?! I can't type with enough force to express my disgust at this.
And then I found Marcelo Hoynowski's website and I just had to do...something.
Suggestions for making a difference...
1. Write a letter to save a seal or two!
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Send letters to the following persons and indicate how displeased you are with this slaughter:
Prime Minister's Office
Right Honorable Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington St. Ottawa
Ontario, Canada K1A OA2
1-613-992-4211
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca
The Hon. Loyola Hearn.
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
House of Commons
Suite 648-S, Centre Block
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
613-996-3085 or 613-992-3474
Fax: 613-996-6988
Email: HearnL@parl.gc.ca
Voice: 613-992-0927
2. Sign a Petition to the Canadian Prime Minister , Mr. Harper.
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Sign petitions urging the Canadian government to reconsider its stance on this senseless slaughter.
3. Make a donation to IFAW and help to "Spread The Word " about the Canadian Seal Hunt.
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Learn more about Seals and consider donating or joining organizations that are rallying to end the seal hunt.
To learn more about IFAW’s efforts to end the Canadian commercial seal hunt, visit www.stopthesealhunt.org .
5 comments:
OK. When I first read this I read, "for pets". And I thought, "What is wrong with that?" And then I read it again.
oy.
In the interest of balance, here are some "myths and facts" that might be interesting to look at:
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/seal-phoque/myth-eng.htm
I cringe and look away every time I see footage from the hunts on TV. It looks so horrible, and really, of course it totally is. But there are also some compelling arguments that support it, as distasteful and ugly as it appears to be.
Anyway, I feel icky trying to make an argument for seal killing, it's just that my hackles rise every time Canadians are labeled barbaric for having this industry in the first place.
As the site I posted points out, it's really no different than what happens in slaughterhouses all over both Canada and the United States, which the general meat-eating public turn a blind eye to every single day. It's just that this is done out in the open - to really cute little animals.
Ugh. Seriously, I'm not saying I love the seal hunt. I'm just saying there are two sides to every story.
Please still love me.
The end.
I haven't seen a compelling argument for it yet. What exactly is the industry? As far as I can tell it's for fancy coats. That is what I find distasteful. Food is one thing...fancy coats are another. But maybe that's just how one meat-eating human justifies her cheeseburgers and jealousy of the upper class. :o)
msfitz jumped in with some of the stuff I was going to say, but I'll just round it out a little. Don't hate me either!
The place where the seal hunt happens is one of the poorest regions in Canada and the work is all seasonal. Killing seals is what happens at this time of year, killing fish is what happens at another time of year, and that is life. If you eat meat (I do), if you eat fish (I do) and if you want to actually consider the connections between people and the planet and the existing economic system then you have to accept some things that you won't like.
The post-contact Canadian economy was built on hunting and trapping, mostly beaver pelts for the European market, where they were mostly used to make hats. Hunting and trapping is part of our heritage, like it or not, and it still goes on because yes there is a market for 'fancy coats' and the like. Just like there is a market for diamonds, so we send poor people into dangerous places to get them. Just like there is a market for coal, so we send poor people down to get it, even when there are other ways to keep us warm that don't kill workers and then the rest of us by polluting the atmosphere. Capitalism's a bitch, but human beings are happy to exploit the earth, and animals, in all kinds of ways as long as we don't see it and don't think it is for a 'luxury'. Do I wish this hunt didn't happen? You bet I do. Do I wish Alberta's tar sands didn't exist? You bet I do. But these types of activities run the world; they are how people exist. I work to change that, but it is slow going.
I used to live in a place where people hunted seals for food, and used every bit of the animal. If I could eat the meat from this hunt I would, but I'm not able to.
I don't hate anyone for having an opinion.
I don't see how you can say you're opposed to something, but then attempt to justify it with, "capitalism is a bitch." To be overly simplistic, two wrongs don't make a right. Saying, "this isn't the worst thing in the world," doesn't make it ok.
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