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  cleo at 10:35 PM JST - 30th March

  I can't say I'll lose any sleep over the fate of a bunch of men who were on their way to bludgeon baby seals to death. karma. At least none of these intrepid hunters had the skins taken off their backs while they were still alive.

  buddha4brains - Canada still kills hundreds of thousands of seals every year despite the protests. You call that a 'successful' protest?

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  outhousejt at 03:53 AM JST - 31st March

  There are enough seals. There are enough seals to hunt. The seal hunt is one of the oldest form of a commercial hunt of wild animals and despite the uproar there are enough seals to kill for their skin. This is a good example of how humans can utilize a natural renewable resources. Man taking the best of what nature has to offer without being too greedy.

  With the human population increasing people are starting to talk about if it is sustainable for the planet to have this many people. There are rumours about population control.

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  sincity at 08:07 AM JST - 31st March

  Are you suggesting that people are talking about sealing the fate of other people???

  nutsagain,

  Whales are the vaudevillians of the sea. Anybody who eats doughnuts knows that!

  Nice post, btw. Agreed.

  So, who the hell is wearing these bloodsoaked skins, anyways?

  Hungarians?

  Still, no shortage of seals, barabaric as it is.

  And anybody who actually thinks that seals "decimated" cod stocks is too retarded to breathe.

  We did that. All on our ownsome.

  Chalk up one more for Hoomins.

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  buddha4brains at 09:16 PM JST - 31st March

  cleo: I can never understand you types who weep over animals and not over humans. These men had families to feed. They were not breaking any laws, just working to make ends meet. You may not like seal hunting - I do not particularly like it - but why show such disrespect for the dead?

  Yes, the protests were successful in limiting the hunt which has been heavily monitored to make sure the hunters comply with the law.

  sincity: Not only can I breath I know that "breathe" is a noun and not a verb.

  Back in the late 1980s there were reports stating that cod were decimating the cod. Perhaps that was propaganda. I did check on google and found that it probably was. Here's the link http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/sealhunt/

  Though it seems that propaganda and misinformation is on both sides.

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  cleo at 12:34 AM JST - 1st April

  'These men had families to feed.' Then they could have gone out and got themselves decent, regular jobs their kids could have been proud of their Dads doing, instead of trying to make a quick gory buck bashing the brains out of baby seals.

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  conqueror_of_Uranus at 12:55 AM JST - 1st April

  With the same priciple applied, the same can be said about every livestock farmer, fisherman and herdsman. Killing animals for food and clothing doesn't seem to be leaving our evolution anytime soon.

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  cleo at 01:07 AM JST - 1st April

  'every livestock farmer, fisherman and herdsman' doesn't kill by splashing brains all over the snow; nor do they proceed to take the skin regardless when their bashing hasn't killed the animal or even rendered it unconscious. Though do agree, a profession that involves regular killing (of animals or people) is hardly one to aspire to or encourage your children to take up.

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  buddha4brains at 01:21 PM JST - 1st April

  cloe: In high school I had friends whose fathers worked in an abattoir where they slaughtered cattle. The first thing they had to do was to put a slug in the heads of the cattle so that they could skin them. They do this to put food both on their tables as well as society's table.

  If thinking about killing animals is too squimish for you, then avoid it. Why disrespect the dead because you cannot stomach their legal jobs? These men are dead. Respect that fact.

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  cleo at 01:34 PM JST - 1st April

  buddha4brains -

  I can respect the fact that the men are dead. It's a fact, after all. I just can't bring myself to feel any sorrow for them.

  The first thing they had to do was to put a slug in the heads of the cattle so that they could skin them.

  Yes, they killed the animals humanely. That's the way it's supposed to be done. A very far cry from running around on the ice swinging clubs, leaving cubs injured and bleeding while they chase after the ones that are trying to get away, and skinning them while still conscious just to save a bit of time.

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  flammenwerfer at 01:43 PM JST - 1st April

  While barbaric, I wouldnt quite compare it with whaling. The seal population is apparently exploding, they are not endangered like most whales species (despite the efforts of certain grops to tell us whales are not endangered)

  If the oceans were jam packed with whales, I personally would be too upset if Norway Japan et al hunted some of them and vice versa if the Seals where endangered I would be concerned about the seal hunt.

  Baby seals are cute with big round eyes and the thought of someone killing one especially by clubbing is abhorent by many, but would so many care if baby seals were ugly creatures?

  If you find clubbing seals abhorrent, dont ever go to a slaughterhouse and see how cattle, pigs and sheep are "dispatched". People with double standards about killing animals makes me laugh. If you are a true PETA type who abhors the slaughter of any animal for human consumption then I respect your convictions and arguments a lot more than the "I like steak but clubbing cute seals is a disgrace crowd"

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  Altria at 01:50 PM JST - 1st April

  The seal population is apparently exploding - literally! All over the ice!

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  sukebeoyagi at 01:52 PM JST - 1st April

  They are gods creatures to do with what we want. Sorry to hear about this community's sad loss. Anyone who ventures out to sea in those conditions is a hero in my book. R.I.P.

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  buddha4brains at 01:54 PM JST - 1st April

  cleo

  Aside from sensationalist advocacy groups, where else did you hear that seal hunters run "around on the ice swinging clubs, leaving cubs injured and bleeding while they chase after the ones that are trying to get away, and skinning them while still conscious just to save a bit of time."

  All people who I know who kill animals for a living or are avid hunters and fishers do not have the attitude you say the seal hunters have. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt seal hunters are any less responsible than other hunters.

  BTW I'm not a hunter or fisher. I am an eater, not a killer.

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  cleo at 02:59 PM JST - 1st April

  http://www.stopthesealhunt.ca/site/c.jhKSIZPzEmE/b.2607991/k.B25F/StoptheSealHunt_300000Actionsfor300000Seals.htm

  Watch the video and then tell me that intrepid hunter wasn't running around on the ice clubbing the seal (repeatedly, yeah, just like they do in abattoirs...I counted 6 bashes on the one seal)

  If you consider the IFAW a 'sensationalist advocacy group' (aren't all animal welfare groups, by definition?), perhaps you'll give more credence to the reports of two international veterinary panels:

  • 179 seals were observed hunted. Ninety-six of these were shot; 56 were shot or clubbed; 19 were clubbed or gaffed [Note: neither gaffs nor boat hooks are legal instruments for killing seals in Canada], and 8 were killed by unknown means. • In 79% of cases, sealers did not check for a corneal reflex indicating that many of these seals potentially could have been skinned or hooked alive. • Only 6% were bled immediately after being struck. • 72 (40%) seals were shot or clubbed and left to suffer. • At least 30 seals were hooked while still alive. • At least 5 were bled alive. • At least 4 were skinned alive. From their examination of seal carcasses and video evidence, Burdon et al. (p. 1) concluded, “the hunt is resulting in considerable and unacceptable suffering”. ...

  Burdon et al. found that 79% of the sealers they observed did not check for a corneal reflex. Daoust et al.’s figure was even higher – 87%. It is not surprising, therefore, that video records of Canada’s seal hunt for the years 1998-2001 inclusive all show numerous instances where animals were clubbed or shot and not rendered immediately unconscious. From the video evidence under review, the estimated proportion of animals in this category ranges from a minimum of 11% (Daoust et al.) to about 40% (Burdon et al.). If such percentages are at all typical of the Canadian hunt, they suggest that 26,000 to 96,000 harp seal pups annually are not rendered immediately unconscious after being clubbed or shot, but rather are left to suffer for some time before being killed.
  Coincidentally or not, these figures are not very different from the data provided in Burdon et al. from post-mortem examination of skulls from seals killed in the hunt. If their results are in any way representative of the entire hunt, they would suggest that somewhere between 41,000 and 100,000+ animals are skinned while still conscious.

  http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/dfiles/file_512.pdf

  I could be wrong

  Yes, I do believe you are. I wish you weren't.

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  buddha4brains at 08:22 PM JST - 1st April

  Thanks Cleo. Ghastly indeed. Appreciate you passing on the data. I will definitely take another look at this issue.

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