Is the Canadian Seal Hunt Cruelty to Animals?

Good article!

I think it's also worth noting that while it's illegal to kill baby seals with white coats (harp seals have white fur until they're 11 or 12 days old), it's not illegal to kill baby seals after they've had their first molt (around 12 or 13 days old). The point is, they're still babies (not that I support killing adult seals either).

I also think it's misleading for the government or sealers to refer to the seal hunt as a "hunt". These animals aren't hiding, and they don't flee very fast on the ice. It's more of a massacre than a hunt.

Hi there, thanks for writing this article. I'd like to clarify a few things:

The comment relating to triple-checking the death of the seal is the three-step process, which does not even conform to international veterinarian standards for humane slaughter. The three-step process was introduced by the Canadian govt only as an attempt to stave off an EU-wide seal product ban. The process itself is meaningless, oftentimes impossible to do during the commercial seal hunt and does not improve animal welfare.

It's interesting to note in the past the Canadian govt swore the seal slaughter was humane. When it introduced the 3-step process it claimed at that time the seal slaughter was *now* humane. Recently the Fisheries Minister has admitted most sealers don't know how to do the 3-step process properly and training will be offered in the future. So basically the 3-step process is supposed to ensure the pups die humanely, yet most sealers don't know how to do it properly...this raises serious doubts as to the Canadian govt's sincerity in its claims it is a humane slaughter.

The Canadian government tends to say the commercial slaughter is approved by veterinarians when this is not actually the case. The commercial seal hunt has been the subject of numerous studies by veterinarians and has yet to receive a passing grade. All studies have expressed animal welfare concerns. Recently Efsa conducted a study on seal hunting and concluded the commercial seal hunt in Canada is not humane.

It is logistically impossible for DFO to adequately monitor the commercial seal hunt. The killing takes place over a vast expanse with hundreds of sealing vessels and only a small number of DFO crafts and personnel. Further, each year licensed observers submit to DFO unedited video footage of violations committed by sealers. Very rarely are these violations acted upon. Once in a while a sealer will be charged and convicted, but the vast majority go uncharged.

While it is illegal to kill whitecoats (this ban came about when the EU banned whitecoat pelts in 1982 and the sealing industry fell apart) it should be noted that the moment those pups begin moulting (at 12 days of age) they can be killed. Most pups are younger than one month. At that age, they are not eating solid food or swimming. They are completely defenceless on the ice - very easy prey for the "hunters."

I have observed and documented the commercial killing of harp and hooded seals for the past three years and also document the commercial killing of grey seal pups in Nova Scotia, and I can assure readers there is nothing even remotely "humane" about the way the pups are killed.

Bridget Curran
Director, Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition

PLEASE look up Inuit culter and inuit history and then write crap about Canadians. The only story everyone seems to pay attention to is the greedy "white-man" killing for money. FYI, inuit don't kill and just take the fur. Inuit uses every single part of the entire seal. The seal has the most vitamins and minerals of all the inuit diet. Maybe even ask the inuit elders on how it has always been part of their culture. So please do some research and then make your judgment. I'm pretty sure cow or chickens are not killed very "softly"

I think this is horrable, there are not going to be any seals because the young one are being killed and the old ones will not live forever.

THIS STATEMENT IS FALSE!=>"it's illegal to kill baby seals"(WRONG!)
This is a known piece of fraud, used by seal beaters to falsely justify acts which are considered a Federal Crime in multiple nations.
Here is the real story:
A Seal lives to approximately 30 to 40 years old. About half the lifespan of a human at 60 to 80. A seal does not become an ADULT until it reaches 6 or 7 years old! This is when the seal reaches reproductive maturity. Similar to how human children reach adolescence at around 12 to 14 years old, again about double. SEALERS EVEN TO THIS DAY KILL 97% OF SEALS BETWEEN 12 DAYS OLD & 12 WEEKS OLD!
SEALERS KILL BABIES.
That is a physical and biological fact!
Following the example, these would relate to a human baby between 4weeks old and a 6 month old toddler! This is what a Sealer and pro-seal-hunt cheerleaders would like to have you believe are "ADULTS".
WATCH OUT: Sealers will attempt to trick you, and the public, at any chance they get. Remember, these are men who think nothing of beating the living skull in of an animal, armed with guns and a steel tipped hakapik club, so the act of Lying to you, is nothing to them.
What sealers pull is as follows:
Previously, these same Canadian Newfoundland Sealers beat and killed ALL seals, including whitecoats, babies, adults, bluebacks, and more! Sealers did this for decades! They killed nearly all of them, nearly decimating the entire species, down to about only 0.04 left, out of their entire former population!
Then, it was ACTIVISTS, who raised the red flag, and got a law passed stating that you could NOT kill the seals that had white fur which were under 12 days old. Harp seals are white furred when they are born, and then their fur molts off and changes to gray fur at around 12 days old. IT DOES NOT MEAN that an infant seal goes to bed on day 12 and suddenly wakes up 200 kilograms and an Adult the next day on day 13! The seal is still a baby for the next several YEARS!
What pro-sealers will do is attempt to trick you, and all of the public, and try to dupe all good people out there, into believing that since there is a Law against killing the whitecoat babies, that "they dont kill baby seals anymore(FALSE!)" A sealer wants to dupe you into believing that a seal magically turns into a fullgrown adult on day 13, and is suddenly not a baby anymore despite biologically not reaching adulthood until 6 or 7 years old, and then sealers fraudulently try to conflate the whitecoat law which only applies to seals 12 days old or less, into a factually fraudulent claim that the Law covers "all" babies, which is completely false.
Watch out for this! If you EVER see anyone attempt to write an article which states "they dont kill baby seals anymore(DEBUNKED!)" or "killing the baby ones is illegal(FALSE!)" then that author of that article has just committed fraud. If you see any person attempt to maintain that lie on any site, in print, in comments, anywhere, make note of that user's name, because that user has just attempted to lie to you and that user can not now ever be trusted. Their post(s) can be thrown out.
Even watch for politicians and officials attempting this! The fraud runs deep regarding the seal hunt, and despite clear factual and biological evidence to the contrary, even Senators and Parlimentary officials with ties into the sealers and fanatical sealing lobbyists will attempt to pull that ruse on you.
Even the DFO, Department of Fisheries, which runs the seal hunt does NOT state this (anymore). They were forced to take it back, and they also keep telling sealers to stop saying it. Yet they keep doing it.
Every single seal (even though they are often not) is required to be reported under Federal Law. And therefore this data is recorded. And even according to the DFO data, the entity responsible by LAW, for monitoring the seal hunt, has released their figures showing that:
97% OF ALL SEALS KILLED BY CANADIAN SEALERS ARE BABIES!
These are between 12 days old and 12 weeks old. 2 weeks to 3 months old.
This is fact, and coming from the Federal Agency that runs the Seal Hunt itself! So if you EVER see anyone attempt to state that "they dont kill baby seals anymore" or "it's illegal to kill the baby ones" that is an outright lie, and that person is now caught attempting to run you through a scam.

FEDERAL SEAL HUNT TESTIMONY REVEALING INHUMANE ACTS BY CANADIAN SEALERS:


The following is direct testimony from sealers, taken by Department of Fisheries and Oceans staff. It was obtained through Access to Information laws, and contains graphic descriptions of animal cruelty. To date, seven charges have been laid as a result of the investigation, but only one had resulted in a court hearing.
Notes:

* The use of 22 caliber rifles to shoot seals has been outlawed for humane reasons - the guns are not powerful enough to kill seals quickly.
* When mothers are killed and their newborn pups abandoned on the ice, there is no chance of survival for the pup. In every case, the baby seal would have starved to death slowly.

"Prior to March most females were killed with the pup inside them. I seen seven pups threw over the side after the female was pelted. I took two out myself. Me and another sealer even agreed that this was shocking and there should be another way to hunt seals. We were in the whelping on March 10 because I observed that eight of tens pans of ice had young pups with the after birth and other debris from the birth on the ice. There was once I can remember the young seal watching his parents being hoist aboard. He watched the boat as we steamed away. The pups were not killed but left by themselves on the ice." Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 10

"I did see some mother seals killed and the pup fall out on deck still alive. (Deleted) told me to throw it overboard and I did. It crawled up on a pan of ice. The mother was full of milk, the milk ran out on deck when the pup fell out." Sealer's statement, taken by Cyril Furlong, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 24

"I was present when female Hood seals were pelted and did see pups fall out of the female on deck. I seen this happen twice and know that it happened eight to ten times during the first trip. I knew this happened because of conversations with the crew. The two pups that I saw on deck were alive. The pups were threw over board and on one occasion I did see one of these pups swimming in the water. I don't know what happened to the pups." Sealer's statement, taken by Cyril Furlong, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, July 3, 15:33 hrs

"I seen a female being pelted and the pup came out of her when they cut her open, the pup was dead. This seal was killed for a while. This was on the day we got one hundred and seventy. Someone passed the comment, 'If Green peace were only here to see this.'" Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 22, 15:15 hrs

"We did take female Hoods and leave the pups on the ice. I was on deck when a pup fell out of a female Hood seals and I pelted the seal along with two other crewmembers. I can't recall who they were. The pup was alive when it fell out. I killed the pup and threw it over the side." Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, July 6, 3:51 pm

"We were hunting for adult seals and on several times we took the old seals and left the pups on the ice. The Hood seals pupped while we were out there hunting. We did take seals before they had pups on one occasion. I did see a pup fall out on deck while the female was being pelted. This pup was alive and it was threw overboard. The pup was alive and swimming in the water. The pup crawled up on the ice." Sealer's statement, taken by Cyril Furlong, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, July 6, 11:11 AM

"My job was pelting seals and using the gun. I was present when the female Hood was being pelted and young pup fell out of her onto the deck, This happened eight or ten times. There were lots of comments made for example, 'If we only had a video camera we would make a fortune' and 'We should never be allowed out killing them'"

"There were lots of times that the male and female were killed and taken on board and the pup left on the ice, sometimes the pup had blood on it as it was just born. We had approximately five hundred and fifty seals for the trip, approximately four hundred were hood seals of which at least one hundred and fifty were females."

"The seals were always in a net bag in the speed boat, when they were hoist on board there were numerous 22 caliber rifle casings among the seals. They were often kicking around the deck of the longliner, I seen the observer Rex Hodder pick them up and throw them over aboard. He had to know that the 22 guns were being used. They even make a different sound to the heavier gun. There was an effort to hide these guns from Rex Hodder. They were passed down through the vents in the engine room. They were kept in cases while in the two speed boats. We landed something over three thousand seals fro the trip. We got in somewhere around the 21st of April. I don't think that the 22 caliber rifle is powerful enough to kill even a beater seal. I often seen seals alive after we hoist the seals them out of the speed boats. We would finish them off with a hakapik." Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 24, 19:40 hrs

"All the females we took, the pups were left on the ice. The pup was left on the ice after the female was killed and taken on board." Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, July 14

"Sometimes he told me to kill the male and female and sometimes to kill the male only. The pup was always left. It seemed he told me to kill everything when seals were scarce. Sometimes the seals were not that old because there was blood where they were born."

"At the end of the day everyone would lend a hand pelting seals. There were two or three cut out of the female while she was being pelted, they were killed and threw over aboard. There was a lot of talk as to weather this was right or a good thing to be doing. Everyone was aware of it."

"The best day we done, we took approximately one hundred and eighty. We wee taking make and females that day and this was towards the end of the trip. There were a lot of pups around and they were all left on the ice. The following day we killed some females that were accompanied by the male and pup."

"The four of us were present when the pups were cut out of the female, (deleted) were aware of this also. We had approximately eight hundred seals for the trip and about one quarter or better would be females." Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, July 10, 19:15 hrs

"During the second trip we left fifteen or twenty pups alone after taking the family. There were mistakes made by killing pregnant female hoods, this happened approximately six times but they never came out on deck. I am an experienced sealer so I knew they were pregnant. We were not saving the meat so the pup went over aboard with the carcass." Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, August 11, 16:50 hrs

"There were a few occasions when we took the male and female Hood seals and left the pup on the ice. I observed on two occasions for the trip pups falling out of the female while being pelted on deck. The two pups I observed were alive and were thrown over the side. I seen these pups crawl up on the ice after we threw them over aboard."

"I probably killed three to four hundred seals with the 22 caliber rifle. There was conversations between the skipper and myself and the crew to make an effort to hide the 22 rifles from the observer." Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 29, 10:45 hrs

"After the females were pelted and pups fell out onto the deck the pups were thrown over the side. I did see a couple move around in the water behind the boat. They appeared to be alive and swimming. We watched a seal that came out of the old one on deck try to get up on a pan of ice. It did not get up to my knowledge. This did bother me to see seals flapping around in the water and trying to get up on the ice." Sealer's statement, taken by Fergus Foley, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 28, 16:30 hrs

THAT IS DIRECT TESTIMONY UNDER FEDERAL LAW SHOWING THAT SEALERS COMMITTED INHUMANE ACTS DURING THE SEAL HUNT.

READ IT.

The user called "Guest" at Mar 31, 2010 11:51 AM making claims about the Native INUIT people, wrote:

"PLEASE look up Inuit culter and inuit history and then write crap about Canadians. The only story everyone seems to pay attention to is the greedy "white-man" killing for money. FYI, inuit don't kill and just take the fur. Inuit uses every single part of the entire seal. The seal has the most vitamins and minerals of all the inuit diet. Maybe even ask the inuit elders on how it has always been part of their culture. So please do some research and then make your judgment. I'm pretty sure cow or chickens are not killed very "softly""

1. SEAL MEAT IS POISON!
2. Seal meat now contains toxic levels of METHYL MERCURIC POISON!
3. ANYONE eating seal meat or seal oil now, including Inuit people now may be afflicted with stunted brain growth, low IQ, organ damage, and anyone eating seal meat can have children borne with birth defects and brain damage!
4. Anyone rooting "FOR" the inuit to continue to eat seal meat is not helping the Inuit. Although activists hardly even *target* the native inuit people at all, regarding the seal hunt, by stopping the "white mans" commercial seal hunt, and giving that money that is given to these commercial seal butchers instead to the Inuit people can enable the Inuit communities to obtain millions of dollars, and can be used for supplies, planes, schools, and transport of good healthy food, education for children, shipments of great food to Inuit communities, etc, all with the millions currently given to these "white" seal beating men, and instead GIVING that money to the more deserving Inuit people to purchas millions of dollars worth of good healthy food, and have more than enough to transport it today all over the world anywhere.
4. It is, therefore, the person who goes around attempting to cheer the Inuit onward to eat MORE seal meat that is hurting and damaging the Inuit people! Seal meat is NOT the same as 3-thousand years ago, or in the Dark Ages! This is the industrial age now and the seals are contaminated with levels of methyl mercuric poison above the human limit and unfit for human consumption! Anyone thinking that they are "sticking up" for Inuit by cheering them onward to eating MORE seal meat, is actually destroying the Inuit. Anyone cheering Inuit to ingest more seal or whale meat is cheering aboriginal people to effectively poison themselves and their children, by you applauding Inuit to eat more of this tainted matter!
5. Any person attempting to post some false line like "The inuit eat blubber blah blah seal blah blah etc and *are the healthiest* people around..." etc etc THAT IS FALSE! One more time, that is False! The actual story, is that the Inuit people are now some of the most contaminated people on the face of the earth!

HERE IS THE TRUTH REGARDING NATIVE ARCTIC PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE NATIVE INUIT:

SCIENTIFIC STUDY:
"The bodies of Arctic people, particularly Greenland's Inuit, contain the highest human concentrations of industrial chemicals and pesticides found anywhere on Earth - levels so extreme that the breast milk and tissues of some Greenlanders could be classified as hazardous waste."

"Nearly all Inuit tested in Greenland and more than half in Canada have levels of PCBs and mercury exceeding international health guidelines."

"Studies of infants in Greenland and Arctic Canada who have been exposed in the womb and through breast milk suggest that the chemicals are harming children. Babies suffer greater rates of infections because their immune systems seem to be impaired, and their brain development is altered, slightly reducing their intelligence and memory skills."

In newborns' umbilical cord blood and mothers' breast milk, average PCB and mercury levels are 20 to 50 times higher in remote villages of Greenland than in urban areas of the United States and Europe, according to a 2003 report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, or AMAP, a scientific consortium created by the eight Arctic nations.

In far northern villages such as Qaanaaq, where Inuit live, one out of every six adults tested exceeded 200 parts per billion of mercury in the blood, a dose known to cause acute symptoms of mercury poisoning, according to a 2003 United Nations report.

lnuit who eat the blubber and meat of whales, and the meat or oil of seals, ingest huge amounts of contaminants, which accumulate in these particular animals' fat, and magnify in concentration with each step.

EATING SEAL MEAT IS HURTING & DAMAGING THE INUIT PEOPLE!

THE PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY THE SEAL HUNT ARE HURTING PEOPLE.

Any person AGAINST the seal hunt is a friend of the Inuit people. Anyone cheering for allowing more or continued seal meat harvesting is NOT a friend of the Inuit, and any person sticking up for the seal hunt is Anti-Canadian and damaging Canadian people, families, and children.

Methyl Mercuric poison and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in seal meat crosses the blood-brain barrier, and damage the brain tissue of anyone who eats it, including you, your family, inuit, EU families, Canadian citizens, and your future children can be born and go through the rest of their life learning disabled.

All anti-sealers, which include good Canadians, activists, protesters against the seal hunt, are true Canadian patriots, helping all the Good Canadian citizens, helping the Inuit, and the world.

Any pro-sealer caught cheering the continuance of the seal hunt which generates dishonor, human poisoning, and human brain damage, including against good Canadian citizens and children, is a betrayor of the Inuit, and an Anti-Canadian.

SEALERS BREAK THE LAW!

Surveillance Flight Captures Impatient Sealers - Total Fines $6,500 and Loss of Pelt Profits

August 14, 2006

CORNER BROOK, NL – Four sealers from southwestern Newfoundland have been convicted of harvesting seals prior to the opening of the 2005 seal fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

On March 28, 2005, a seal fishery surveillance flight was monitoring activity in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, one day prior to the scheduled start of the seal fishery in that area. By means of the air craft’s high-powered photo and video surveillance equipment, a fishery officer recorded four vessels engaged in harvesting harp seals.

When the vessels docked at Port Saunders on March 30, 2005, onboard investigations were initiated by fishery officers of the Rocky Harbour and St. Anthony detachments. A review of the vessels’ logbooks confirmed that a number of seal pelts were harvested by each vessel on the day before the scheduled opening of that fishery.

On June 5, 2006, in Corner Brook Provincial Court, Harlan Warren and Perry Warren, of Margaree, Glen King, of Fox Roost, and Norman King, of Burnt Islands, were found guilty and each fined $1,500.

The illegally harvested pelts were forfeited to the Crown; the total value of the pelts to the fishing enterprises was $9,071.

In addition, Harlan Warren was fined $500 for failing to carry an at-sea observer.

The at-sea observer program places independent, private sector observers aboard fishing vessels to monitor compliance with fisheries regulations. The program also provides data for fisheries management and science.

###

<B>NEWS: 10 NEWFOUNDLAND CANADIAN SEAL KILLERS FOUND GUILTY IN PROVINCIAL COURT"</B>
10 Sealers were convicted last week in Court for violating federal law and illegally killing baby seals. The sealers admitted to the crimes. In possibly what has been the longest trial in Canadian history, due to coverups, and unregulated fisheries officials turning a blind eye and attempting to get the criminals exonerated, a court judge finally laid down the law and convicted the men. Not only did the Sealers testify that they were aware of the regulations, they admitted to the fact that they knew what they were doing was wrong, and continued to do it anyway.

The convicted Canadian Sealers stated as their defense in court that DFO Fisheries Officers at the time had told them they would turn a blind eye to what they were doing, and that the hunt was essentially unregulated. "The failure of an investigative body to enforce a particular law during a particular time period does not constitute an excuse or justification for anyone who breached that law," the Judge wrote in a 39-page conviction ruling dated last Tuesday.

Investigations uncovered documents whereby each of the sealers names and signatures were uncovered on purchase sheets revealing that the Sealers had illegally killed baby seals, and were caught illegally attempting to sell the skins of the baby seals to seal processing plants. This long after the BAN on such activities was in effect.

COURT DOCUMENTS SHOW INHUMANE CRIMINAL ACTS COMMITTED BY SEALERS.

THIS IS FALSE!-->"seal hunting is badly needed by the people in the Newfoundland and Labrador provinces. Unemployment in these areas is high and sealing can be quite lucrative. The DFO reports that in 2007 the harp seal hunt brought in $12 million."=WRONG!


The Canadian Seal hunt is a Financial LOSS to Canada. The SEAL HUNT is an economic disaster that hurts every Canadian citizen.

The seal hunt doesn't make money, it loses money. And in order to make up for the economic losses inflicted on the entire nation, by Sealers who dig the nation into an economic hole and cast stink on the great flag of Canada, the Government is takes money from every tax-paying good Canadian citizen, in order to pay off the losses of Newfoundland sealers.

Despite blatant mis-information campaigns by the DFO, Fisheries Minister, Gail Shea, and by Newfoundland, the fact is:

<B>Sealers DO NOT earn a crucial livelihood from this seal hunt. </B>

That is known false! So if you ever see that, you can immediately dismiss any person asserting that as a fact distorter who is attempting to dupe all good Canadians and pull one over on you.

And this proves it. Here's the math.:

Currently a sealer gets barely $14 for a seal pelt. That is a published fact. Sealers even concur with this. Also they get even less for it, if the pelt has scars on it, imperfections, if it's stained, cut, shot, has holes in it, etc. Then these men can only get barely $2 to $4 for the life of a seal when they peel its skin off and try to sell it.

There exist only approximately 6,000 sealers. That is published, and asserted by the sealers and the DFO itself. The DFO is the entity who is RESPONSIBLE for Federally permitting sealers, so they had better have that figure correct. What this means, is that the total amount claimed as generated by the seal hunt HAS to be spread over and divided up over ALL those 6,000 people. It's like if you had a winning lottery ticket, but then you found out that more than 6-thousand people ALSO had the same number, now you don't get what you thought, not what it sounded like at the beginning.

The MAXIMUM amount of seals federally allowed by law in 2009 was 285,000. That is a Federal Law! That means by law the seal hunt is capped, the amount that the seal hunt can even possibly generate CANNOT exceed that. If it does, someone's going to be prosecuted.

However, in reality, last year sealers were only ABLE to bring in 74,000 seal pelts. Again, this is federally tracked! If a sealer does NOT factually report this as soon as his boat arrives and he unloads, he can be sent to court. That is a violation of federal law. So the DFO is reponsible for obtaining these figures. And thus this 74,000 total from the entire hunt MUST be documented. It's federal Law.


Ok, so we have:
$15 per pelt.
74,000 pelts.
spread across 6,000 sealers.
Let's see how much that really earns...

So, how much did the seal hunt actually earn? Remember, to listen to Sealers and the Fisheries Minister, they make it sound as if livelihoods depend on this! (false!) They make it sound like the seal hunt is some huge industry supporting entire provinces (states), and that sealers need this to pay rent, pay for their home, mortgages, buy cars with this income, feed entire families of 3,4,5,6 people off of this income, and that if the seal hunt were done away with, they make it sound as if they'll die, face hardship, or the entire nation of Canada would crumble and cease to function.

The fact is, it loses money. To support this hunt, the Canadian Government needs to hire tons of people, at from $30K or more per year salary, for administrating sealing permits, hire DFO Officers and field agents at $30 to $60K to inspect all the sealing boats, arrest sealers, pay thousands of dollars in court costs, and legal trial fees, pay Lawyers bills in the thousands, Gail Shea flew all the way to CHINA, and cost the Govt up to $10,000 in air fare, afterall she took tons of people with her as cronies who also bilked Canadians wallets, hotel bills, food, fashion shows, etc, then there's millions of dollars in ICEBREAKER SHIP costs of up to 18 MILLION dollars, fuel, Government Coast Guard helicopters and the cost of the pilot's $100K per year salary to flyover the seal hunt, then there's Govt aircraft of which nearly 10 flyover the sealing areas, conducting surveillance on these sealers catching them breaking federal law unlawfully killing seals, then there's the cost of PRESS Releases, Advertising to try to prop up this seal hunt, indirect subsidies, 750,000 dollars was given to a seal processing factory to rebuild the building, then there's bad-press in the Olympics, Boycotts due to sealers that have cost Canada nearly half a billion dollars, etc all of this means that the seal hunt actually COSTS CANADA upwards of HALF A BILLION DOLLARS in costs and losses, and all of this is socked on every Canadian citizen who has their paycheck deducted and cannot now pay for food on the table the same as before.

So, to hear Sealers, Pro-Sealers, and Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, you'd be lead to believe that this seal hunt earns enough to make up for all that, right? Which would make the seal hunt need to earn half a billion dollars to break even.

Here's the truth:

$14 per pelt times 74,000 pelts = 1.03 million bucks. That's it!

Now, remember, that has to be split and divided over ALL of these sealers, as Sealers and Fisheries Minister Gail Shea etc claim it supports ALL of them!

1,030,000 divided by 6,000 people = $172 bucks each! Per year.

Ok, that right there is the "ANNUAL SALARY" of a person involved in sealing. 172 bucks. That's it.

If this were a job, That would be a salary of $14 dollars a month.

Imagine you, going in to apply for a job, and the person tells you, you have to smell like fish, gut open and peel the skin off animals that you've beaten to death, go out in the arctic cold, dragging 200 kilogram seal bodies up on a boat that stinks like decayed meat, get rotted coagulated blood all over you, wear 3 layers of clothes plus stupid looking green hip waders over top of it, and cast a stink on your entire country for it, and be hated by millions around the world, commit an act which is considered criminalized as a Federal Crime in multiple nations around the world, and by doing so, you'll be hurting millions of other Canadians, potentially poisoning people and children with methyl mercury... and for all of this you're going to get a payment of the equivalent salary of $14 dollars a month, or 3.59 a week, or 71 cents a day and come home smelling like rotted carcass.

That is exactly what a sealer is and does, and the truth about what these goons earn from it, unlike the lies that have been spread to you about it by them trying to dupe you and trick the public.

IT DOES NOT EARN 12 MILLION! That is false! It barely earns 0.1 of that total, and if the seal hunt were a real job you'd get paid 0.08 cents an hour! That's why these sealers lie and try to claim it earns more than it does actually.

Oh, and by the way, don't forget, the seal hunt has expenses, they did not even earn that amount above! Out of that you're going to have to pay your mortgage, purchase $200 a month in groceries to support a family of 4, pay your rent, buy petrol, make your truck payment, buy diesel fuel for that sealing boat, buy guns, buy bullets for the guns, buy food for that sealing trip, buy arctic gear, clothes, rope, pay for the sealing permit, taxes, pay for the gas to drive from your house to the launch point of the boat, buy the chemicals to treat the pelts, pay your phone bill, tv cable, all of this: with $14 bucks a month.

Do you see now, how this is flawed? And Gail Shea, Canadian Fisheries minister, and the sealers have been lying to you? There's the math. Right in front of you. And that's their own figures.

If you ever see "12 million" that's false. And even if it were 12 it wouldn't matter anyway! It costs more than double that JUST for the cost of paying the icebreakers and other expenses! The seal hunt is a an economic loss to Canada! And as you can see, it is NOT any such significant portion of anyone's livelihood, you could not even feed your child on 08 cents. And if a sealer claims this, then he is being irresponsible to his child. A sealer could get a real job instead, and provide for his child. Continuing to conduct an activity which garners such an insignificant amount, is irresponsible to children. Someone could earn more selling an old chair at a yard sale! ebay. janitor. newspaper boy earns more than this. yet they've got internet, houses, trucks, they buy guns, clubs, beer, etc etc, this is because Sealers are getting UI unemployment checks from the govt! AND they have a 2nd job as Fishermen already! So sealing is even a 2nd job which isn't even needed. It is a ruse purposely pulled by sealers to justify their beating of seals to trick you into believing they 'need' the seal hunt, which is false.

If you EVER see that line claiming that "thousands of coastal fishermen need it for their livelihoods(false)" or "It earns over 12 million(false)" you can immediately regard whoever printed that as either not properly informed on the subject, or, if the person said it on purpose, they just lied, and attempted to scam you. The seal hunt is a Financial LOSS. And eliminating it will actually HELP every good Canadian citizen.

THIS IS A MISNOMER==>"Is it inhumane to hunt seal? Canada says no.."(False)

In fact, a poll was taken across Canada, and the MAJORITY OF CANADIANS are AGAINST the Seal Hunt!

It's not "Canada" that keeps maliciously backing the seal beatings. It is in actuality only a tiny pack of extremist Sealers and a pack of political cronies who have "brother-in-laws" in the sealing industry (nepotism).

Look, the TOTAL number of Sealers, as even published by the DFO is only 6,000! There are 33 MILLION people in Canada.

DO THE MATH:
33,000,000 people in Canada
only 6,000 people are even participate in sealing.
6,000 divided by 33 million = 0.00018 !

It means that Sealers involved in the seal hunt number ONLY 0.00018 of Canada!

This means that these Sealers actually make up less than 1 TEN-THOUSANDTH of the people of canada!

99.9999% of Canadian citizens are HURT by Sealers.

Only a tiny faction of extremist seal killers making up only 0.00018 of Canada obtain benefit & gratification from this act of beating seals. And even they, the sealers, are damaging their own children and families for any of them who ingest even 1 bite of seal meat or ingest seal oil which can damage their own and their childrens brains.

So in reality, GOOD Canadians, activists, protesters, anti-sealers, and great Canadian patriots who are all against the seal hunt, out number this tiny pack of armed fanatics who beat and kill, and the DFO which runs it, and the handful of bought politicians who have ties to family or others involved in the seal hunt.

So a more accurate statement is:

"Is it inhumane to hunt seal? The vast majority of 33 million Good Canadians say yes, it is, and that also includes thousands of animal rights activists, as well as entire Nations, all of Canada's NAFTA partners, including the United States where the acts of sealers are considered a Federal Crime, Mexico, even Vladimir Putin of Russia, a former KGB agent, says it is inhumane, and the entire 27-nation bloc of the EU which comprises nearly an entire continent against this tiny pack of Sealers. Only a tiny sect of armed extremist seal killers numbering less than 1-ten-thousandth of Canada, plus the DFO Govt agency which runs the seal hunt itself, the DFO's own paid Scientists and Vets, and multiple politicians who have been swayed by a tiny pack of seal killing lobbyists or who have conflict-of-interest ties to persons in the sealing industry even support the seal hunt."

ensuring that quotas are maintained and that seals are killed humanely!!!! YEAH RIGHT These are innocent animals dying!! How would you like to be shot or club in the head for no reason?!?!?!?! I will never be for this! I hate Newfoundland!

The only reason we see this as cruelty to animals is because they are much more adorable than other animals.

If you want to help save the seals...please join our Facebook Group "Save the Seals...STOP the White Commercial Seal Hunt"...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Seal-Hunt/79822274778?filter=3#!/g roup.php?gid=119253774767104&ref=ts

There is unlimited information there, and you can sign petitions too. We are also looking for donations to help save the seals, and other wildlife, and their environment/habitat. Donate $5.00 and you will recieve a Beautiful FREE Ornament of a Baby Harp Seal, that says "Canada" on the stand. This is a Limited Time Offer!

This is not a scam, I live in Ontario Canada. I'm starting this group and trying to get donations and trying to get petitions filled out, because just like the rest of you, I am DISGUSTED by all of this, and the cover-up that is going on with our Government. They are using the Inuit/Inuk/Natives as human sheilds...they did that a long time ago so they could "proove" to other countries, that the Arctic was ours.

Bridget Curren is lying in online forums yet again.

She knows full well that the three step process was introduced by the Independent Veterinarians Working Group after careful observation of seal hunting practices in the Gulf and on the Front (Practices differ in each area as sea conditions are not comparable between the two. There is much obfuscation and exploitation of ignorant citizens by Animal Rightists like Curran as a result of this).

The IVWG was convened thanks to funding from the World Wildlife Federation but the organization, being dependent on public donations, is reluctant to advertise this, despite the fact that it is one of the most progressive things they have done for marine mammal conservation and welfare.

The IVWG report can be read here online.

http://www.ivwgonline.org/

Originally, the group recommended a blink test, as employed in veterinary clinics, but this proved impractical in the dangerous and volatile conditions under which sealers work, so the blink test was replaced with skull palpation.

Further, it was the sealer's associations in partnership with advocacy groups that lobbied the Canadian Government to adopt the 3-step process, as they knew that in the face of Animal Rights propaganda, there was a need for transparency of killing methods and that those methods must hold up against accepted standards for slaughterhouses. The 3-step process is directly comparable to slaughterhouse killing methods and holds to a much higher standard of swift dispatch than the regulations for the hunting of any wild species in North America or Europe.

How many of you against the seal hunt are not vegetarians? Worse things go on in slaughter houses, where cameras aren't allowed. I'm not in support of the seal hunt, but it has been going on for so long that Fishermen have now made themselves part of the ecosystem. If the hunt were to stop, populations of seal would skyrocket. I'm not talking short term, but over a period of ten years or so, the seals would be a problem. Like I previously mentioned, slaughter houses and fur farms should be your major concern. The seal hunt only goes on for a month... animals in slaughter houses are mutilated and defenseless, and that goes on everyday of the year.

Guest that has made many long postings a bit under a year ago, I do not find any reason why I should believe you nor anyone else in statistics shown to me. I am stating that your "facts" are mere rhetoric. As far as any average Joe uninvolved with any sort of sealing or anti-sealing work or study is concerned, I would say they find my last sentence plausible. Cite your sources. Yes, your details are worthless without citing trustworthy sources. Wait...define trustworthy. Well shit I do not know who is telling the truth as most things on this topic come by word of mouth or online rants and debates to me. Megan Jungwi's opinion has been the best I've read so far and I have spent quite some time researching. I am not even near the hunting grounds! It is easy for me to not care either way what goes on in the seal hunt as I am too busy with college preparation anyway.
You are insulting many people in what you have typed. You can insult every person who takes an opposing view and label them as something bad, as well as praise those who share your views. I say that incivility is uncalled for. The only difference in the way I am doing it now compared to you is you take it to extremes with your assumptions and the attempts to evoke extreme hatred toward people that you place into categories you dislike. I see your rants as superficial as it seems you are typing with commentary that will probably distract readers from basic facts and making their own informed decisions. I believe what I stated in my typing is evident and requires no citing of examples since the rants lie below on this page (irony?)