Commentary: The annual seal slaughter in Canada has faced a setback as the EU’s ban on products such as pelts is upheld by the World Trade Organisation. PETA, the charity that fights for the ethical treatment of animals around the world, campaigns against the Canadian seal slaughter and has made some in roads in recent years. However the slaughter continues. In July 2012 TEK reported “PETA want and need support for Canadian Senator Mac Harb, who has introduced an historic bill to end Canada's annual commercial slaughter of seal pups. The legislation acknowledges that there is no longer a market for seal pelts, since Russia banned seal fur imports. Russia had in the past been importing 95 per cent of Canadian seal fur. The US, the European Union, Mexico plus other countries have also banned seal fur imports. Of course some people maintain that the cull is simply a necessity to keep the number of seals under control, blaming seals for damaging the fishing industry”. It looked as if the days of seal pups battered to death were drawing to an end but the killing continues. Cynics claim the only people making money these days out of the seal hunt are campaign groups such as PETA, but if that is the case why continue? If the number of seals threatens fish stocks there must be a more humane way to cull numbers than shooting them or beating them to death? The EU ban may be applauded but there are claims that it operates on an unfair playing field. Claims by the EU that the ban is "necessary to protect public morals" regarding animal welfare when it exempts seal products from Inuit or indigenous communities are questionable. These exemptions resulted in groups challenging the WTO ruling. Canada and Norway challenged the 2010 ruling but lost. That decision is still being scrutinised as it has fair trade implications. The Huffington Post reports “Terry Audla, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami representing about 55,000 Canadian Inuit, said his people were never consulted and never agreed with the embargo or its uneven exceptions. "I am morally outraged at the self-righteousness and sanctimoniousness of the EU's claim to protect the morals of its citizens," he said in a statement.” PETAs stance is this: “More than 50,000 seals have been killed already this year, and the slaughter is still going on. We may not be able to run onto the ice to stand between a baby seal and a rifle or the sharp end of a hakapik, but we can help end the massacre by calling on Canadian officials to stop the slaughter and support a government buyout. The market for seal fur is virtually non-existent, and the Fisheries Minister admitted last month that China has rejected seal meat. Please, share this video with everyone you know and speak up to end what the late, great Farley Mowat called “perhaps the most atrocious single trespass by human beings against the living world that’s taking place today”.” Although a fair number of famous people have protested about the Canadian seal slaughter in "1978, marine ecologist Jacques Cousteau criticized the focus on the seal hunt, arguing it is entirely emotional: "We have to be logical. We have to aim our activity first to the endangered species. Those who are moved by the plight of the harp seal could also be moved by the plight of the pig – the way they are slaughtered is horrible".
Sources: NPR The Star Huffington Post
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