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The war versus the rest of the world, for the right to kill seals in Canada has been going on for many years. And in my opinion, this has caused Canada a lot of 'global shame'. And now, the World Trade Organization has upheld the European Union’s ban on Canadian seal products, saying the prohibition does undermine fair trade but is legal and can be justified on the basis of moral concerns.
EU countries and many local and international animal rights groups have shamed Canada for this so called barbaric act of clubbing baby seals to death (not my words).
What I know for a fact is that this has caused Canada a lot of shame on the global stage. I am not sure why Canada was even fighting this EU ban ....
How important is the export of seal products to the economy? Losing this WTO case is shameful. Makes Canada look barbaric and stupid.
I'd like to hear other thoughts.
Canada suffers setback in challenge of EU ban on seal products - The Globe and Mail
“Virtually no one in the world wants to buy seal products,” Ms. Aldworth said in a release, “and the WTO ruling confirms that these markets won’t miraculously reopen. Instead of waging pointless WTO challenges that cost Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars, our government should invest in a one-time transition program for sealers.”
And what do we do when the seal population explodes? There's a whole lot of irony in that.
Clubbing seals? Only 10% of seals are clubbed. Majority are shot.
I have no time for countries who slaughter animals on a giant scale "shaming" our country for doing the same thing they do.... If it's population is healthy and it's not harming the environment, have at it..... but don't be a hypocrite.
Can we focus on more important issues like the mass slaughter of Sharks? If only they were cute and cuddly.
I don't expect that the appeal will be successful, and that's a shame.
As Stoke pointed out, the moral qualms that the EU professes as justification for the ban are, at best, hypocritical.
That the seal hunt is not ecologically damaging is quite certain. That many of the same people who decry the seal hunt also decry the wretched conditions of northern First Nations communities is also certain. However, when presented with an opportunity to promote a traditional, non-destructive and potentially lucrative industry, these same people turn their backs.
It's also indisputable that with the decrease of fur, there's been an increase in synthetic fabrics, which are largely petroleum based. That the EU would seek to put restrictions on Oil Sands oil, yet inadvertently promote the increased use of petroleum based fabrics is strange, indeed. That a group of nations increasingly concerned with climate change and the long term effects of fossil fuel use would promote something so environmentally damaging is absurd.
If people are uncomfortable wearing seal skin or using other seal products, that's fine. If enough people are, then market forces will inevitably make the industry unprofitable.
Personally, I'd hate to see traditional ways of life die out. I've been waffling on buying sealskin products for quite a long time, as they're expensive as all hell, but I felt like the time was right. Fancy new mittens, here I come (Long Mittens - Natural Seal (long-natural-seal-mittens) :: Natural Boutique)
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How important is the export of seal products to the economy? Losing this WTO case is shameful. Makes Canada look barbaric and stupid.
I'd like to hear other thoughts.
The yearly seal hunt has more to do with the local economy than it does Canada as a whole.
People who live in Canadas remote eastern regions Hunt seals in seal season, lobsters in lobster season ,fish for various species of fish when they are in season Etc. its a cycle that keeps many relevant and not on welfare. While baby seals are very cute and its easy to dislike seeing them killed bottom line is its just another meat product, all of the meat we eat is at some point killed, Next time you eat a burger or steak or throw on a piece of leather clothing think of where the product came from.
EG; think veal.http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QN2mUdV8Op...162040574.jpeg
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 11-28-2013 at 08:16 PM..
Reason: fix quoting
The yearly seal hunt has more to do with the local economy than it does Canada as a whole.
People who live in Canadas remote eastern regions Hunt seals in seal season, lobsters in lobster season ,fish for various species of fish when they are in season Etc. its a cycle that keeps many relevant and not on welfare. While baby seals are very cute and its easy to dislike seeing them killed bottom line is its just another meat product, all of the meat we eat is at some point killed, Next time you eat a burger or steak or throw on a piece of leather clothing think of where the product came from.
EG; think veal.http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QN2mUdV8Op...162040574.jpeg
Well ... you and others are confusing two very different issues. Rearing and killing cows is very different from killing animals in the wild.
Canada, like many other Western countries in the world frowns upon whaling in Japan and does not import products made from animals like lions and elephants. So, are you saying that it is okay to poach lions, tigers and elephants in Africa?
Is all meat equal?
Plus, before you dismiss this issue ... think about the local laws in Canada against animal cruelty. Is it okay to club a dog or a cat in the head? Isn't that (animal cruelty) against the law?
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 11-28-2013 at 08:18 PM..
Reason: fix quoting
Well ... you and others are confusing two very different issues. Rearing and killing cows is very different from killing animals in the wild.
Canada, like many other Western countries in the world frowns upon whaling in Japan and does not import products made from animals like lions and elephants. So, are you saying that it is okay to poach lions, tigers and elephants in Africa?
Is all meat equal?
Plus, before you dismiss this issue ... think about the local laws in Canada against animal cruelty. Is it okay to club a dog or a cat in the head? Isn't that (animal cruelty) against the law?
I suggest you forego ordering veal schnitzel in Europe then. There's been only one way to create the best veal for decades and that has been a rather cruel process for calves.
Many of the worlds so-called civilized societies have taken a liking to things that have spelled disaster for some species. Whales for nothing but their oil, Shark fin soup, even the cuddly Dolphin suffers from being hunted for specific parts of their bodies.
Of the five most endangered species within Europe the Monk Seal is one of them, imagine that ~ perhaps Europeans should put their money where their pie holes are, practice what they're preaching, stop throwing stones while living in glass houses, etc., etc.. D
Well ... you and others are confusing two very different issues. Rearing and killing cows is very different from killing animals in the wild.
Canada, like many other Western countries in the world frowns upon whaling in Japan and does not import products made from animals like lions and elephants. So, are you saying that it is okay to poach lions, tigers and elephants in Africa?
Is all meat equal?
Plus, before you dismiss this issue ... think about the local laws in Canada against animal cruelty. Is it okay to club a dog or a cat in the head? Isn't that (animal cruelty) against the law?
You're absolutely right - there is a difference between raising meat animals and killing wild animals, and from an ethical standpoint, wild meat or leather is far more justifiable.
After all, wild animals are never subject to the health and psychological stresses of feedlots or factory farms, nor are they ever given hormones or mass antibiotic treatments. Even the slaughter process is generally more humane, as wild animals generally have very little awareness of their impending death - the entire process is usually over in moments. Slaughterhouse slaughtered animals often have significant wait time prior to slaughter.
Plus, having worked (briefly) in those same factory farm settings, clubbing is an entirely acceptable practice for killing sick or wounded animals, though it's generally discouraged on larger livestock as the force required to crush the skull is too large. In many cases it's preferred to a bolt gun or other means, as there's less stress on the animal - they generally don't know the hammer's coming, but must be help stationary for other methods of dispatch. Further to that, both the Canadian and American veterinary associations have affirmed that the hakapik is efficient and humane when used correctly.
Besides, you're confusing two separate issues yourself. Elephants are listed as an endangered species. We ban the import of elephant products because the poaching of elephants is a direct threat to the viability of the species. There are several million harp seals - and the DFO sets quotas based on population estimates.
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 11-28-2013 at 08:20 PM..
I am truly ashamed of the hypocritical behaviour of the EU. This political union allows and endorses bullfighting and foie gras production, AND allows the hunting of seals as well (in Sweden and Finland), and then makes decisions like this only because of some whiny and hateful animal rights groups and not Europeans in general.
I fully support the Newfoundlanders and Magdalene Islanders rights to harvest seals and make a living of it. I don't buy this "moral" crap about some animals being worth more than others just because of their appearance, may it be seal, dog, cat, dolphin, whale whatever, as long as they are not endangered and as long as they are used I'm fine with it.
I might be a bit biased though since I have grown up in a Swedish fur farming community, one of the last real and true fur farming communities in this country at that, and still stands strong on not giving up their buisness for outside preasure, I have many fur farmers in my family. Sölvesborg Municipality is truly the Mecca of fur farming in Sweden.
Last edited by Helsingborgaren; 11-26-2013 at 07:09 PM..
Wild seal meat and skin is far more environmentally justifiable than farm produced meat and hides for leather production. Farmed animals have to be fed crops grown using industrial agriculture that requires fossil fuels to cultivate. Moreover, they poison the land with herbicides and pesticides and replace land that could house ecosystems with farmers fields. The animals do not get to live the kinds of lives animals evolved to live, and then they are sent to slaughterhouses which is a process that causes them all kinds of stress, from the transportation side to the waiting to be killed. Seal hunting involves wild animals getting to live wild lives, not needing any GHGs to survive and not displacing any land. There are insane populations of them and they need to be culled every now and then or they'll just grow to the ecosystems carrying capacity with they are very nearly at. They are not any smarter or more important then animals like cows raised on farms. Harvesting them supports very old cultures in Canada that need the extra income because they are impoverished. All in all, I'd much rather wear seal skin products and eat seal meat than eat beef and wear leather.
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