Apparently the government wanted athletes to wear seal pelts at the Olympics in protest of who the international community is reacting to Canada's seal hunt. What a silly idea:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Can...947/story.html

I heard that - it was in defiance of the EU wanting to ban seal related trade etc. . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/bu...tml?ref=global

If you are going to ban seal hunting, may as well ban all forms of "use" of animals (ranching, pets, etc.) Either animals should roam free or they shouldn't, surely there shouldn't be "OK" and "non OK" uses for them.

I would have thought that killing wild animals was the ultimate in organic produce.

If people really don't like it, they don't need a ban.

Exactly. The laws of supply and demand.

If no-one buys it, they'll be no reason for anyone to hunt it, except for Inuit who hunt it for food, etc.

Seals are over populated and are far from being an endangered species. Exports amount to a mere 5.5 million dollars annually, hardly a cash cow, although many communities depend on seals to support themselves both for food and as a financial resource. The Inuit eat seals raw and has been killing them as a way of life for years. The government has established humane rules for the killing of seals, regardless of how violent it may look. I'm sure it wouldn't be pleasant watching a cow being slaughtered either.

The EU should get a life. The only reason that anyone is focused on the seals is the fact that they are cute. Pigs on the other hand have not fared so well. And as already pointed out, seals are not held in atrocious living quarters as are domestic cattle. Seals are hunted in their natural habitat. I dare say that the EU should focus on matters closer to home such as the deplorable conditions that cattle are raised and killed.

Smashing a seals head in with a club is just not aesthetically moral though-regardless of who calls it "humane". And im sure the need of seal products for Inuit sustenance is a tiny proportion of the population killed.

I can't see the trade ban saving the life of many seals. All that will happen is that the word changes from "hunt" to "cull" and the dead animals get trashed instead of sold.

The seals are in competition with humans for food (fish). The humans have better politcal clout.

Come on, our ancestors have been hunting for as long as documented history. do you wear leather shoes/jackets, eat meat, etc. While clubbing may look graphic, its been found to be a humane way of killing them. A country like canada would not allow the wholesale, indiscriminate slaughter of any animal for a mere 5.5 million in exports. That would be a heavy price to pay on the world stage as far as canada's image goes.

Why should a seal have anymore rights than a pig, lamb, cow or a chicken. Give me a break.

Because seals are cute.

so are lambs and Calves

Maybe its because we have them and they don't.

you could be onto something

Most humane or most efficient? That depends on which literature you read, mostly commisioned by governments. I don't begrudge the killing of seals for communities that rely on them for food, and have been doing for thousands of years. The problem is the real value of the seal hunt is it the fur/pelt. Not but i believe its fully true, but there are reports that some seals are skinned when not fully dead.

I think the main issue is that the seal hunt is out in the open. If we saw images of farmers slaughtering lambs etc then I think the reaction would be the same. The major difference is lamb, pork etc is a major food source, whilst I've never seen seal steak on offer anywhere.

Just a little observation here. Most (I'm guessing 70%) of the seals killed are not clubbed but shot with high-powered rifles. Clubbing pictures are, of course, much better for PR purposes.

Shall we now discuss kosher and halal butchery methods?