Absolutely disgusting. Canadians are as bad as the Japs

[Aliya]

Is this what the Canadian government means by 'humane' slaughter?

The baby seal looks into the eyes of her executioner. Barely a flicker of emotion shows on the fisherman's face as he smashes a steel-tipped club into her mouth. She lies whimpering on the ice, blood pouring from her jaw and nose.

But she is not yet dead, so the sealer hits her in the face another four times before slamming a hooked "hakapik" club into her stomach and dragging her across the ice towards the ship.

Yet even this savagery is not enough to kill the poor creature.

A few seconds later, the pup starts wriggling furiously. She is clearly still alive, though in terrible agony. The fisherman smashes her head another three times.

I pray to myself that she is dead before she is skinned - but from where I am standing, it is impossible to tell.

Savage:'It's quite clear that the sealers are failing to adhere to the new regulations. It's the same old hunt we've seen in the past'

Sad to say, this pitiful scene was far from unique when I visited the Canadian ice floes last weekend to see whether the introduction of new rules designed to make the country's annual seal cull "humane" have been properly implemented.

Under these regulations, a pup must first be shot or battered into unconsciousness.

The fisherman then has to check that an animal is fully "insensible" before slicing open the arteries near its flippers, allowing the creature to "bleed out" before it can be skinned.

These rules were brought in to forestall a possible EU ban on the import of sealskins.

The European Commission is currently mulling over a ban which, if it becomes law, would destroy the sealing industry.

As Phil Jenkins, spokesman for the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, explains: "We're trying to make sure there is no possible way that a seal could be skinned while it was irreversibly unconscious but not dead.

"It's really going the extra mile to make sure that it's as humane as it can be."

Having travelled to Nova Scotia to investigate the slaughter at close range, I can say categorically that the new rules are being completely ignored by the fishermen.

They are not even paying lip service to them.

To make matters worse, not only are the Canadian authorities making no attempts to enforce the legislation, they are also desperately trying to prevent the media and other observers witnessing what really goes on.

I spent almost a week on the east coast of Canada trying to observe the cull but at every step the local authorities did their best to stop me.

They consistently refused to issue the media and animal welfare campaigners with the necessary permits to observe the cull.

On Saturday afternoon, though, I finally managed to get hold of one (which has since been withdrawn).

Such obstructions are matched by the hostility of the sealers themselves, who have become increasingly aggressive towards independent observers.

On previous trips, Canadian fishermen have threatened me with knives, guns and hakapiks. Two years ago, when I visited the floes with a group of MEPs, we were involved in a high-speed car chase in which sealers repeatedly tried to force us off the road.

We were eventually forced to barricade ourselves into a hotel, where we remained for eight hours while officials from the European Commission and the U.S. embassy negotiated our release.

The authorities justify reporting restrictions by claiming that animal welfare campaigners and the media have consistently misrepresented the cull.

They claim that the images used to accompany reporting are, in some cases, decades out of date.

Loyola Sullivan, Canada's fisheries ambassador and head of the delegation to the EU, says: "We are not going to be bullied or blackmailed into forcing people who depend on the sealing industry out of their livelihoods using baseless allegations."

Yet when I finally made it to the ice floes on Saturday, in a helicopter provided by the Humane Society of the United States, the carnage was every bit as horrific as the pictures suggest.

Swathes of ice were drenched in blood. Piles of carcasses lay steaming in the sunshine. Fishing boats were off-loading men armed with hakapiks.

They fanned out across the ice, killing all that came within range.

Many of the fishing boats were pouring seal blood into the sea, turning it scarlet. Other sealers were casually tossing the skinned bodies of pups into the sea.

A few will have been cutting the hearts out of the baby seals ready to eat for breakfast - an age-old tradition amongst sealers.

I witnessed dozens of seals being battered to death.

At "best" only one was killed in full accordance with the new regulations. About a quarter were tested for death before being skinned but we saw only one pup having its arteries sliced open and left to "bleed out".

Such scenes will be repeated hundreds of thousands of times over the coming weeks.

At least 275,000 baby seals will be killed so that their skins can be made into cheap fur coats, leather shoes and tacky trinkets.

The great tragedy of the slaughter is that it was stopped 25 years ago, following a ban on the import of seal pelts into the European Union - a ban that destroyed the economics of the industry.

But the Canadian government eventually found a loophole and ruthlessly exploited it.

Five years ago, the cull re-started with a vengeance when the authorities ordered the battering to death of a million baby seals.

I was there to watch the horror unfold - the first British journalist in a generation to document the cull.

Since then, another 1.5million baby seals have been slaughtered - almost one-third of the seal population.

Every year, British and European politicians have rushed to condemn the slaughter. Yet every year they have failed to take concrete action.

Now, at last, there is a glimmer of hope.

Stavros Dimas, the EU's Commissioner for the Environment, said this week that the European Commission would soon propose an outright ban on the import of seal pelts.

"The Commissioner is very concerned at the inhumane way that baby seals are killed," said a spokeswoman. "Last year, we sent a team of expert observers. What the team saw did not alleviate the Commissioner's worries."

These may turn out to be just weasel words designed to ward off action for another year - but this time there is a sense that the end of the slaughter could be near.

Several countries have already taken independent action to ban seal pelt imports.

But our own Government is dithering, saying that ministers have "written again to Environment Commissioner Dimas and others reiterating UK support for an EU-wide ban".

British animal welfare campaigners are wary of such words.

Mark Glover, of the Humane Society International, says: "We've heard the same excuses for three or four years now. A European ban is crucial but the UK should also act on its own.

"We cannot see any reason why they won't do so.

"It's quite clear that the sealers are failing to adhere to the new regulations. It's the same old hunt we've seen in the past."

After witnessing the slaughter at close hand, it would be impossible to disagree.

[Fresh Mint]

Thanks for that, babe.

You know I don't condone the action, but that is easily the funniest piece I've read in a while!

[Aliya]

It is????

[Tack]

I can't get beyond this guy's agenda though. How likely is it that were the seals culled 'humanely' that he would report it so?
I don't doubt this is ghastly and too many seals die a dreadful death BTW

[Tack]

Hmm, tried to add an edit (several times) but to no avail...and wasn't there a feature to let you know if subsequent posts had been added since you hit reply?

[Fresh Mint]

Exactly, Tack!

He loses credibility with hyperbole.

As soon as you start anthropomorphisalising (I just verbed a word), you lose it!

[Aliya]

Oh yeah he did, but I just factored that into his general shock over what was happening. Still I am amazed that the Canadian govt dont appear to be monitoring this, very odd.

[Tack]

As soon as you start anthropomorphisalising (I just verbed a word), you lose it!

See! Journos twist everything to suit themselves.

[Kooky]

That dreadful, barfy, first paragraph certainly detracts from the message, as this thread illustrates.

[Burbage]

I bet the Canadian Government would come down like a ton of bricks on any scientist caught euthanising a lab rodent the wrong way.

[cromasaig]

Who wrote and published it? I'm immensely sympathetic to the issue, but I'm afraid this does come across as overly emotional and biased, which is an accusation animal welfarists could well do without.

God knows why the b*****ds can't just use a captive bolt pistol, like they would on cattle.

[Morrolan]

Who wrote and published it? I'm immensely sympathetic to the issue, but I'm afraid this does come across as overly emotional and biased, which is an accusation animal welfarists could well do without.

God knows why the b*****ds can't just use a captive bolt pistol, like they would on cattle.

because the use of one requires training and these dickheads only know 'smash & grab'.

[Burbage]

Hang on. When have animal welfare nutters ever NOT been overly emotional and biased? It's practically a definition of the species.

[Morrolan]

Hang on. When have animal welfare nutters ever NOT been overly emotional and biased? It's practically a definition of the species.

true, it practically comes with the job description.

[Aliya]

being overly emotional is hardly a crime when you see what is done to animals like these little seals. Before you all get on your soap box about that, remember animals are being killed very cruely all over the world and are we expected to act in a totally stiff upper lip way about it at all times? No. Of course emotion will come in.

[Burbage]

I didn't say it was a crime. But there's no question that animal welfare would be better served by people who can deliver a rational argument than people who burst into tears and have a hissy fit when a little bunny is chased down by a beagle.

[cromasaig]

Burb, I am that person. Wanna debate hunting with me? You'll lose...

[Burbage]

Lions will starve if they don't hunt.

So. What's your counter argument?

[cromasaig]

Not if they're fed by a zookeeper they won't.

Anyway, I'm referring to hunting with dogs, ie fox hunting. As well you know, oh omniscient one...

[Burbage]

Ah yes. Omniscience...

So. Why are you in favour of hunting with dogs?

[cromasaig]

I'm the tree hugger/fluffy bunny lover in this argument.

[baloo]

[Burbage]

Well I'm not going to argue that anything is achieved by hunting rabbits with dogs. But can you convince me that I should care? I mean, let's face it, they breed like, well, rabbits. It's not as if there's a shortage.

[Morrolan]

Well I'm not going to argue that anything is achieved by hunting rabbits with dogs. But can you convince me that I should care? I mean, let's face it, they breed like, well, rabbits. It's not as if there's a shortage.

aren't they hunting foxes rather than rabbits with dogs in the UK? that hunt is rather pointless and barbaric, IMO. i don't see the point of hunting for trophies to begin with.

[Raffles]

aren't they hunting foxes rather than rabbits with dogs in the UK? that hunt is rather pointless and barbaric, IMO. i don't see the point of hunting for trophies to begin with.

Hunting with dogs is illegal in the UK; http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2004/uk ... 1#pt1-l1g1