"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." ~Pericles
"I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create."
~William Blake
"In Silence the heart illumines; veil after veil is removed.
In the heart shines the Light of Love.
When the Light of Love is seen shining within your heart you behold the Light in all.
Your heart will be filled with love and compassion for all."
- Kirpal Singh
FAITH! HOPE!
Find a petition and sign it!
horse drawn carriages, rodeos, horrible seal hunting in canada, animal testing...animals need our protection we humans with understanding and reason are the only ones to protect the innocent get off your ass and become proactive in your world....find out where and how the food you eat gets to you..please dont be paralyzed by fear and gloom the innocent need you..please don't kill me, its not my fault that the salmon and cod are disappearing
Why boycott Canadian seafood?
Seal hunting is an off-season activity conducted by fishers from Canada's East Coast. They earn a small fraction of their incomes from sealing—primarily from the sale of seal pelts to European fashion markets. But the vast majority of the sealers' incomes are from commercial fisheries. Canadian seafood exports to the United States contribute $2.5 billion annually to the Canadian economy—dwarfing the few million dollars provided by the seal hunt. The connection between the commercial fishing industry and the seal hunt in Canada gives consumers all over the world the power to end this cruel and brutal slaughter. Early in the season, younger seals are usually killed on the ice with clubs or hakapiks. Later in the season, beaters and older seals are usually shot with a rifle, both on the ice and in the water. Seal pups have traditionally been clubbed to death, but in recent years thinning ice has led to increased shooting on ice and in open water. When clubbing, sealers may only "stun" a pup, resulting in the skinning or bleeding of a live seal. Shooting also causes significant suffering. The Royal Commission on Seals and Sealing recognized it is extremely difficult to guarantee a clean kill when shooting at seals in the water or on moving ice floes. Seals are often wounded and escape to die under the ice. (These "uncounted kills" are not included in government catch statistics.)
< PRESS RELEASESCanada plans to kill 275,000 harp seal pups despite international outcry11 March 2008(Ottawa, Canada – 11 March 2008) - Conservation and animal welfare groups, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), have condemned Canada’s announced plans to kill 275,000 harp seals in this year’s commercial seal hunt, which is expected to start in a few weeks’ time.The Canadian Government has once again decided to ignore scientific advice by setting the total allowable catch (TAC) for harp seals well above what the population can sustain, with experts appalled that the quota has been increased despite scientific evidence that the population is in decline.
“The blatant disregard for precautionary principles demonstrates to the world that the Canadian government does not value science or conservation,†said Sheryl Fink, a senior researcher with IFAW.
Experts with IFAW maintain that the government’s unwillingness to seriously reduce the TAC is not only irresponsible, but downright reckless given the recent history of unsustainable catches, poor ice conditions and increased pup mortality.
“Just last year, hundreds of thousands of newborn pups in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence died due to lack of ice before the hunt even began,†said Fink. “And now with this exceedingly high quota, this same harp seal population will face another year of decline.â€
In the last year, an international groundswell of opposition to this hunt has brought about national bans on seal products in Belgium and The Netherlands. Similar bans designed to close down markets for seal pelts are currently under consideration in Germany, Italy and Austria.
Amid the European trade ban discussions the international demand for seal fur has diminished considerably and pelt prices have dropped by almost half.
“All recent evidence indicates that the market for seal fur is saturated. There is no place for pelts to go, even at reduced prices,†said Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW. “This annual slaughter is carried out to provide fur products for the fashion industry that nobody needs in this day and age. A growing number of countries in Europe have introduced or are seeking a ban, sending a very clear message to Canada that Europe wants no part in this inherently cruel trade.â€
Canada’s commercial seal hunt continues to be the world’s largest hunt for marine mammals today. Last year over 224,000 seals were killed, 98.5% of which were pups under three months old.
< JOIN CAMPAIGNSSeal Hunt Facts Canada Doesn't Want You to KnowTrue Confessions: Sealers Testify to the Cruelty of the HuntThe following is direct testimony from blueback sealers, taken by Department of Fisheries and Oceans enforcement officers. It was obtained through Access to Information requests, and contains graphic descriptions of cruelty to animals.Notes:
· When mothers are killed and their newborn pups abandoned on the ice, there is no chance of survival for the pup. In every case, the baby seal would have starved to death slowly.
· The use of .22 caliber rifles to shoot seals has been outlawed for humane reasons - the guns are not powerful enough to kill seals quickly."Prior to March 8/98 most females were killed with the pup inside them.
...I seen seven pups threw over the side after the female was pelted. I took two out myself. Me and another sealer even agreed that this was shocking and there should be another way to hunt seals. We were in the whelping on March 10/98 because I observed that eight of tens pans of ice had young pups with the after birth and other debris from the birth on the ice. There was once I can remember the young seal watching his parents being hoist aboard. He watched the boat as we steamed away. The pups were not killed but left by themselves on the ice."
Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 10/98"I did see some mother seals killed and the pup fall out on deck still alive.
...(Name deleted) told me to throw it overboard and I did. It crawled up on a pan of ice. The mother was full of milk, the milk ran out on deck when the pup fell out."
Sealer's statement, taken by Cyril Furlong, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 24/98"I was present when female Hood seals were pelted and did see pups fall out of the female on deck.
...I seen this happen twice and know that it happened eight to ten times during the first trip. I knew this happened because of conversations with the crew. The two pups that I saw on deck were alive. The pups were threw over board and on one occasion I did see one of these pups swimming in the water. I don't know what happened to the pups."
Sealer's statement, taken by Cyril Furlong, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, July 3/98, 15:33 hrs"I seen a female being pelted and the pup came out of her when they cut her open, the pup was dead.
...This seal was killed for a while. This was on the day we got one hundred and seventy. Someone passed the comment, 'If Green peace were only here to see this.'"
Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 22/98, 15:15 hrs"We did take female Hoods and leave the pups on the ice.
...I was on deck when a pup fell out of a female Hood seals and I pelted the seal along with two other crewmembers. I can't recall who they were. The pup was alive when it fell out. I killed the pup and threw it over the side."
Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, July 6/98, 3:51 pm"We were hunting for adult seals and on several times we took the old seals and left the pups on the ice.
...The Hood seals pupped while we were out there hunting. We did take seals before they had pups on one occasion. I did see a pup fall out on deck while the female was being pelted. This pup was alive and it was threw overboard. The pup was alive and swimming in the water. The pup crawled up on the ice."
Sealer's statement, taken by Cyril Furlong, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, July 6/98, 11:11 AM"My job was pelting seals and using the gun. I was present when the female Hood was being pelted and young pup fell out of her onto the deck.
...This happened eight or ten times. There were lots of comments made for example, 'If we only had a video camera we would make a fortune' and 'We should never be allowed out killing them'"
"There were lots of times that the male and female were killed and taken on board and the pup left on the ice, sometimes the pup had blood on it as it was just born. We had approximately five hundred and fifty seals for the trip, approximately four hundred were hood seals of which at least one hundred and fifty were females."
"The seals were always in a net bag in the speed boat, when they were hoist on board there were numerous 22 caliber rifle casings among the seals. They were often kicking around the deck of the longliner, I seen the observer Rex Hodder pick them up and throw them over aboard. He had to know that the 22 guns were being used. They even make a different sound to the heavier gun. There was an effort to hide these guns from Rex Hodder. They were passed down through the vents in the engine room. They were kept in cases while in the two speedboats. We landed something over three thousand seals fro the trip. We got in somewhere around the 21st of April, 1998. I don't think that the 22-caliber rifle is powerful enough to kill even a beater seal. I often seen seals alive after we hoist the seals them out of the speedboats. We would finish them off with a hakapik."
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