S.O.S - Save Our Seals

2009-07-06T14:26:00.001-04:00

Namibian Seal Hunt Info

2009-07-02T10:55:00.005-04:00

Namibia Seal Hunt:
Activists have had much success in bringing attention to the Canadian seal hunt. While this is great news, we also felt the need to bring attention to a lesser known but still as inhumane hunt that transpires in Namibia. This is the second largest seal hunt in the world.

Namibia is the only country in the Cape fur seal's range in which commercial hunting is permitted. Sealing occurs on two mainland colonies, Cape Cross and Wolf/Atlas Bay, where 75 percent of the pups are born. From July 1 through Nov. 15, commercial hunters hire approximately 160 part-time workers to kill the seals, most pups between the ages of 7 and 11 months. Hunters club the pups on the head with large, ice-pick-like clubs, and then stab them in the heart. The much larger bulls are shot.

Despite a declining population of Cape fur seals and high mortality rates among the seal population, the hunting quota increases every year, ballooning to 91,000 seals in 2006

It is a horrendously cruel slaughter, targeting babies still nursing their mothers' milk. The nursing young are the primary target, as their fur is the most valuable. Older bulls are the secondary target, as seal penis is still popular in Asia as an aphrodisiac. The pups are bludgeoned with clubs and then stabbed through the chest or heart and left to die a slow and agonizing death. The larger bulls are shot.

At Cape Cross, seal slaughter and seal watching intertwine in a sickening mockery of eco-tourism. Hunters descend on the herd at dawn, separating the nursing babies from the mothers, rounding them up and butchering them in front of each other. At 10:00 a.m. the carnage is cleaned up, the blood is covered with more sand and tourists are let in to admire the seals in their natural habitat - the survivors from that morning's slaughter!! It's truly sickening.

In the south, the seal colony is situated in the sperrgebiet restricted diamond area No. 1, land controlled by Namdeb Diamond Corporation (Pty) Limited, which is in turn owned in equal shares by the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers Centenary AG. According to De Beers, "Neither Namdeb nor any of its associated companies are involved in any seal culling activities anywhere. No support, logistic or otherwise, is provided to the sealers". However, sealers are actively supported by De Beers. Sealers are ushered through security check-points and allowed into the restricted area every day in order to kill seals. Where mobile phones and cameras are banned from the restricted zones, sealers are allowed to bring in guns, knives and clubs. Furthermore, observation and documentation of the slaughter is not possible, due to the activity taking place within the restricted zone where passage is barred and cameras are not allowed.

~ From http://CanadianSealHunt.com

2009-07-01T12:54:00.001-04:00

Here is the video I posted yesterday about the poor Namibin baby seal hunt. Please watch this video.

Save the Namibian Seals Pups!

2009-07-01T12:45:00.003-04:00

Please click on this link to read the full article on how to save the Namibiam seal pups from a cruel hunt! I subscribed to Care2 alerts and this was on a ad there. Please take action! They need us!http://www.care2.com/news/member/457397809/1179915
And the link on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sealmancam#play/uploads/5/uzPcAvEARwI

2009-06-29T19:47:00.001-04:00

Here I am! I own this blog, but not the contents of it except for the text. All the pictures go to whoever took them.

2009-06-26T15:46:00.001-04:00

2009-06-08T11:34:00.002-04:00

IF ONLY EVERYONE KNEW.

2009-06-05T18:14:00.002-04:00

I made this video on youtube to help spread the word!

2009-06-02T11:56:00.002-04:00

Again, this image might not load properly if you are using Internet Explorer. Also, make sure you have Java enabled on your browser. And turn off any flash blockers if you have them on your browser.

2009-06-01T14:30:00.001-04:00

2009-05-24T13:18:00.001-04:00

Click here to visit the site!

2009-05-18T13:20:00.004-04:00

2009-05-17T19:23:00.000-04:00

NEW POST

2009-05-13T13:44:00.007-04:00

My opinion on this cruel hunt: I love all animals and especially harp seals, for they do not deserve to die this way. And I think this cruel hunt must stop immediately. This publication I am typing is strongly supported by fact and no fiction is in this text.

# 1. It's cruel.
Countless veterinarians have proven that this barbaric practice is anything but humane. The dragging of seal pups while alive on the wrong end of the blunt hook is a violation in itself. Not to mention beating them on the eye instead of the skull, which has been proven to be hard, not soft and not instant death that the hunters claim otherwise, ( "Seal Song" by Brian Davies, chapter eight, "Pros and Cons of the Seal Hunt , question number four, "The Harp seal has a skull plate which is thinner and softer than that found in most mammalian species..." FALSE!) while screaming for their lives, and having to die a slow, painful death when they are scarcely out of babyhood.

#2. It's not sustainable.
Did you know that the Canadian hunters kill more than 350,000 baby seals every single year? Scientists warn that the current number of Harp seals are not sustainable, putting them at a high risk for extinction. Adding the fact that the price of the fur hats and coats used from Harp seal fur are now going down to about $5 equivalent in the United States. And the cost of sending the hunters with ships and paying them are a waste of Canada's Government money.

#3. The Canadian citizens aren't too happy about it, either.
A recent IFAW poll ( click on the link to reveal it) at http://www.ifaw.org/Publications/Program says that 79% of Canadians agreed with the statement that the federal government should stop spending money and effort defending Canada's commercial seal hunt, and concentrate on more important issues instead. ( page two, paragraph four, line number sixteen of IFAW's " Canadian Public Opinion on a European Trade Ban on Seal Products and the Federal Government's Support for Canada's Commercial Seal Hunt " publication, July 11th, 2008.

And the list keeps rolling down.
Sooner or later the Canadian Government will have to give in, considering it's starting to wreak their nation.
I predict Canada will be seen as an inhumane barbaric country as more lies get uncovered and the truth of this cruel, merciless massacre is exposed.

2009-05-12T09:58:00.001-04:00

Why the Seal Hunt is Cruel to Seals

2009-05-03T15:29:00.001-04:00

Why the Seal Hunt is Cruel to Seals

Why the Seal Hunt is Cruel to Seals
"A sealer near us quickly clubbed every seal within a small radius to immobilize each of the pups, and then dragged the bodies to the center of his circle. One by one he flipped a seal on its back and skinned it. If the seal flipped around or fought against the skinning he'd flip it back to its stomach, club it several more times and then finish the skinning." -- IFAW Hunt Observer

What do veterinary groups really think about how humane the commercial seal hunt is?

Download IFAW's report comparing the independent findings of two veterinary panels on the cruelty of the seal hunt.

Canada's commercial seal hunt is a hunt like no other. It is a cruel and unethical practice that produces a product nobody needs. In fact, 98% of the animals killed in the past two years have been seal pups aged about 2 weeks to 3 months. This unmanageable hunt takes place over a vast area, making it impossible to carry out humanely.
Some seals are killed with a blow to the head using a wooden club or hakapik. The sealers stun as many baby seals as they can before going back to kill them. Some seals try to get away, but they are clumsy on the ice, heaving their fat little bodies with an uncoordinated flipper shuffle. Other seals are shot from a distance and then dragged from the ice onto boats using steel hooks.

Two recent independent veterinary reports on the Canadian seal hunt, as well as IFAW video footage, have documented unacceptable levels of cruelty to baby seals. This hunt is a highly competitive activity, carried out over an extensive area, and under very unpredictable conditions. Haste is the rule, as hunters rush to immobilize as many baby seals as possible in the short time available to them.

Seals are routinely clubbed or shot and left to suffer on the ice, before being clubbed again some time thereafter. Some seals are still skinned before being rendered fully unconscious and few sealers are observed checking for a blinking reflex to confirm brain death prior to skinning an animal. As one of the veterinary reports concluded: "Canada's commercial seal hunt results in considerable and unacceptable suffering."

The Canadian government often misleads the public by comparing the commercial seal hunt to the killing of farm animals in the food industry. Unlike abattoirs, the seal hunt is an unpredictable, unmanageable hunt for wild animals which takes place under hurried conditions. It is precisely these conditions that have led some experts to conclude that this hunt can never satisfy the requirements of a humane hunt.

< Learn More Why Killing Baby Seals is Unsustainable >

http://www.stopthesealhunt.com/site/c.ihKPIWPCIqE/b.2578147/k.8D78/Stop_the_Seal_Hunt__Information_on_economics_of_the_baby_seal_hunt.htm

Please Read This Important Publication On The Seal Hunt!

2009-05-02T16:07:00.005-04:00

Please read this. It will give you updating, key information on the seal hunt! Just click on the title ('Please Read This Important Publication On The Seal Hunt'at the top) THANK YOU! Also, be sure to check out thiis cool animal blog at http://www.julesrs007saveanimals.blogspot.com

2009-05-01T18:45:00.002-04:00

Change is in the air for seals, thanks to you!
European Union to vote on seal product ban next week.

Trouble with links or images? Want to share this email? Use this link:
https://community.hsus.org/humane/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=33063765

May 1, 2009

Dear Sarah,

You'd think I'd feel defeated after what I've seen. But two weeks since returning home from documenting the Canadian seal slaughter with The The Humane Society of the United States' ProtectSeals team, I'm hopeful.

At last, we're closing in on the end of the commercial seal hunt. I'm struck by what a difference a year can make. Thanks to you and the thousands of people who donated and took action, here are just a few of the victories we can celebrate in 2009:

The HSUS Canadian seafood boycott continues to gain ground -- more than 5,000 businesses and more than 600,000 individuals have pledged not to buy Canadian seafood until the seal hunt ends for good. The fishing industry is losing money, and prices for seal skins have crashed to $15 (CAD) -- an 86 percent drop from 2006. Most fishermen aren't bothering to leave home to join the hunt, and tens of thousands of seals have been spared.

For the first time, Canadians have proposed legislation to support an end to the hunt, and we've found a true champion for seals in the government. Senator Mac Harb introduced the historic bill in the Canadian senate last month after returning from his visit to the ice floes.

The HSUS community dug deep to help seals and met The Giant Steps Foundation's matching gift challenge to raise $500,000 in just a few weeks. That means a total of $1 million dollars will immediately go toward stopping the hunt before it starts next spring.

Russia made headlines worldwide when it announced that it would ban the killing of seals less than a year old this year, effectively ending one of the biggest kills of harp seals in the world. Yuriy Trutnev, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, called the seal slaughter "bloody," and remarked that the killing of defenseless animals can't be deemed a "hunt."

I have hope for an even bigger victory still: This Tuesday, May 5, the European Union is scheduled to vote whether to ban its trade in seal products, cutting off a primary market for the Canadian sealing industry. If you sign up for our mobile alerts and follow The HSUS on Twitter, you'll be the first to know when we hear the results of Parliament's vote.

We can win this, if we stay persistent. It won't be long before the Canadian government agrees it's time to end the slaughter, if only to protect profits.

Thank you again for standing with the ProtectSeals team throughout our expedition to the ice -- I know you'll stick with us as we work to put a final end to this cruelty in the coming year.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Aldworth
Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues
The Humane Society of the United States

P.S. Check out our ProtectSeals Cause Gear at Humane Domain. Make a bold statement to end seal slaughter forever -- and feel good knowing you’re supporting our campaign!

Please note that this is an e-mail the HSUS sent to me, I just wanted to share my letter with all of my blog readers!

NEW POST

2009-04-25T18:18:00.000-04:00

S.O.S - Save Our Seals

Every year, over 350,000 baby Harp seals are mercilessly skinned, many while still alive. Some haven't even had their first solid meal! And yet the Canadian Government condones this.

This blog is for anybody who cares about these little white wonders.

For more help, see these organazations that I support and provide links to:

http://www.ifaw.org http://www.harpseals.org http://www.protectseals.org http://www.seashepherd.org/seals http://www.stopthesealhunt.com/site/c.ihKPIWPCIqE/b.3958845/k.CFC9/Stop_the_Seal_Hunt.htm

Thanks for taking time to see this blog!

NEW POST

2009-04-25T15:57:00.001-04:00

IFAW Huntwatch Update: Saturday 28 March

March 29, 2009

Posted by Sheryl Fink, IFAW Senior Researcher

The Huntwatch team first flew to Sydney, Nova Scotia where we had been told a couple of boats might head out to the hunt. But the sealers there could not get out due to the ice conditions.

Then, just before noon, our spotter plane called in on the radio that they had seen a boat hunting up by the Magdalen Islands. This was highly unexpected, since the quota for the Magdalens had been reached early on Day 3 of the commercial seal hunt.

We set down on the ice off the Maggies and approached the sealers. It was a beautiful sunny day on the ice, and we were in a thick concentration of harp seal pups. The pups, now about a month old, were splashing around in pools of water, just learning how to swim. Others were lying on their backs, rolling around scratching their bellies, or curiously nibbling on chunks of ice.

Shortly after we landed, the Quebec Police arrived by helicopter. We politely introduced ourselves, and showed them our observation licences. We were allowed to continue with our work, but they were keeping a close eye on us, ready to press charges should we violate any of our observation licence conditions.

The slaughter was horrific. About 8 men were using hakapiks to smash the skulls of the baby seals, moving methodically from pan to pan and killing every pup in sight.

Lazy and docile from the rays of the sun, it was a simple matter for the sealers to walk right up to the unsuspecting pups. A few tried to escape, using their little claws to awkwardly pull themselves across the slippery ice. They could not move fast enough.

One small pup hidden amongst the rafted up ice looked at me nervously. I tried not to look back - by doing so I would give her location away to the sealers.

But most of the pups just lay there in the suns rays, blissfully ignorant of the fate they were about to meet. They were so docile that the sealers would often grab a pup by the hind flippers, and pull it into a 'better' position before clubbing it.

Some of the sealers were whistling as they worked, and one even started singing "jingle bell rock" - in what I suppose was an attempt to demonstrate their indifference towards the suffering that was taking place . I will never be able to listen to that song again without recalling this horrible bloody massacre. Even so, their antics could not disguise the awful thud of the hakapik, and the panicked growls and cries of the pups as they were killed.

As the sun started to set, we were forced to head home. At the end of the day, it was estimated that 1000 or so pups had been clubbed and skinned, simply so that their beautiful pelts could be made into fur coats, hats, and boots. The ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence remains littered with the abandoned bloody carcasses of seal pups. My only wish is that this is the last year that anyone has to witness such a tragedy.

blog post

2009-04-23T18:14:00.000-04:00

I just sent a letter to IFAW and they said the seal hunt began in early March. If only I would have known! Those poor seals are being killed!

But now it's up to us, the people, to speak out and voice our concern!

2009-04-13T19:52:00.001-04:00

Save Baby Harp Seals

Reply to: see below
Date: 2009-04-02, 12:49PM EDT

Once again, the Canadian harp seal hunt has begun – as the world looks on in horror. Hundreds of thousands of baby seals will be bludgeoned on the head, sometimes choking to death on their own blood, impaled on boat hooks and dragged across the ice while still conscious, and many will be skinned alive (up to 42% according to a study by veterinarians). Conducting a “humane” hunt is a myth. The sealers must move quickly to meet their quotas and to try to remain safe in the treacherous environment of the harp seal birthing grounds. Despite Department of Fisheries and Oceans regulations, there is no time to check a seal’s vital signs to see if it is dead before moving on, and so the pups die a slow and agonizing death. Over one million seals have been killed in the last few years. In 2008, four sealers lost their lives as well as their boats became trapped in the icy waters.

There is no good reason for this annual massacre. It is now accepted in the scientific community that over-fishing is responsible for the decline in cod stocks off Canada’s east coast. In fact, ample evidence exists that a decrease in the harp seal population has also contributed to the decline of cod since predators of cod are part of a harp seal’s normal diet. The development of hypoxia (oxygen-depletion) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which can sicken or kill cod, is another suspected effect of the hunt. Canadian citizens, including the sealers, would be better served by having the government buy back the sealers’ licenses to compensate for the fraction of their income derived from the hunt, and to help them initiate an ecotourism industry, rather than spending millions of tax dollars to subsidize the hunt.

Markets for the pelts are drying up around the world. The European Union will soon vote on whether to ban the trade of seal products in their member countries, and a recent parliamentary committee vote indicates a move in that direction. Only days ago, Russia outlawed their own baby harp seal hunt, citing its inevitably inhumane practices. Additionally, the boycott of Canadian seafood, a worldwide campaign to end the hunt by putting economic pressure on the sealers (who are actually fishermen conducting the hunt as an off-season activity), has decreased profits in the industry by $750 million.

Now, for the first time, a senator has introduced a bill to end the commercial seal hunt. Please don’t remain silent as this senseless slaughter continues. Let your legislators know that those who care about a viable future for Canada will not let another year go by without speaking out against the harp seal hunt – the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth.

Read Senator Harb’s own words on the seal hunt at http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/harb-3-18-2009

Contact Senator MAC HARB at harbsealbill@sen.parl.gc.ca and tell him you support an end to the commercial harp seal hunt.

HELP KEEP THIS BILL ALIVE! CONTACT THESE OTHER SENATORS AND URGE THEM TO SUPPORT BILL S-229, THE HARB SEAL BILL:

Ann Cools at coolsa@sen.parl.gc.ca

Elaine McCoy at mccoye@sen.parl.gc.ca

Norman Atkins at atkinn@sen.parl.gc.ca

Lowell Murray at murral@sen.parl.gc.ca

Marcel Prud'homme at prudhm@sen.parl.gc.ca

Mira Spivak at spivam@sen.parl.gc.ca

Thank you so much.

Watch SONG FOR CANADA'S HARP SEALS at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGorge8fACA

Watch GRAPHIC footage recorded by Humane Society International at http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54720398

- This was on craig's list- I just pasted it here.

2009-04-13T14:06:00.001-04:00

HSUS MySpace Page | Get web badges

2009-04-13T14:04:00.001-04:00

Boycott Canadian Seafood

Click here to read this petition.

Newest 20 of 127 signatures

127	Tracie Fields	4/13
126	Claudia For the Oceans	4/13
125	AvengingAngel Warrior	4/13
124	Wendy Horn	4/13
123	Cindy Bushway	4/13
122	Anonymous	4/13
121	Gail Freel	4/13
120	Jessica Cresseveur	4/13
119	Valerie Hildebrand	4/13
118	ROBIN MCKAY	4/13
117	M. SUE Harrington	4/13
116	Kristina Borisova	4/13
115	Lars K.	4/13
114	mireille coninx	4/13
113	Pamylle Greinke	4/13
112	Kirsikka Ahtiala	4/13
111	Anonymous	4/13
110	Razvan V.	4/13
108	Louise McGannon	4/13
107	Ruth S.	4/13

2009-04-13T14:00:00.001-04:00

HSUS MySpace Page | Get web badges

2009-04-13T13:59:00.001-04:00

HSUS MySpace Page | Get web badges

2009-04-12T10:01:00.000-04:00

Save The Seals Petition

Save The Seals

Click here to read this petition.

Newest 20 of 41 signatures

41	Raven Miller	4/12
40	Fred Fall	4/12
39	Bill C	4/12
38	karen fagan	4/12
37	liz casey	4/12
36	Ginger Geronimo	4/12
35	Alexandra Douglas	4/12
34	Steve Klein	4/12
33	Franziska Eber	4/12
32	Sigrid De Ruyck	4/12
31	CRAIG TUBBS	4/12
30	Rocio Cuevas	4/12
29	Christine Conti-Cole	4/12
28	Patrycja Stachura	4/12
27	ivona Parkaceva	4/12
26	Dana Fillion	4/11
25	Lynda Harding	4/11
24	Marcin Sztwiertnia	4/11
23	Hazel Seymour	4/11
22	sharon keech	4/11

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2009-04-11T21:53:00.001-04:00

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2009-04-11T20:24:00.000-04:00