Canadian ‘hunters’ have begun the annual slaughter of baby harp seals expecting to shoot or club to death around 350,000 of the helpless animals.
Clubbing is preferable for the sealers as it damages the fur less though there are regular reports of the animals being skinned whilst alive and being left to die in agony.
In some ways global warming has aided the seals in that the crumbling ice means the seals are far more spread out than they would be normally and it is harder for the hunters to locate and slaughter them.
Canada says it strictly enforces the means by with pelts are gathered but without an observer at ever club this is impossible and the ever growing area in which the hunters operate makes it harder still.
Activists around the world react in horror whenever the hunt starts… whether they have a point or not is open to question but whever I read the stories I recall the American Bison and how many millions of those were slaughtered. I wonder how long it will take before the hard seal is driven to the edge?
If they were hunting for food that would be excusable… but the carcasses are thrown into the sea… these skins of these animals are being collected to decorate the bodies of the wealthy… personally I find it utterly disgusting.
The Eclectic Interweb 