i just don't know how i feel about the baby seal hunt.
it is in the news even here and an animal rights group had an ice sculpture made of the hunt to put in front of canada house in trafalgar square.
i think it is totally unnecessary to kill an animal to use its fur to sell to some rich norwegian so they can prove their wealth with their clothing. and being hit with a blunt object with enough force to kill doesn't sound humane either.
but at the same time i feel a bit attacked as a canadian and i also respect the rights of those in newfoundland to continue hunting as they have done to provide an income for themselves and their families. aren't they just meeting the demands of the market? isn't that what huge oil companies do when they drill in northern alberta? i am sure a lot of natural vegetation and species are being killed or displaced that don't make it on to primetime news. red blood spilled on the pure white ice is a much more dramatic photo for the newsmakers.
i just wonder how upset these protesters would be if it were something less cute and cuddly like an eel that was being killed and skinned as a baby? i think it makes people upset to know that something so warm and fuzzy will meet such a gruesome fate and when mccartney goes and lies on the ice to be close to them it makes them seem more like pets than what they are - wild animals. and they were shocked it tried to bite them!
3 comments:
I don't know a whole lot on this issue, but you know how much I love animals. So perhaps surprisingly then, I am not completely opposed to the seal hunt. It is a way of life for some people, and a means for them to put food on the table for their families.
I admit, the pictures aren't pretty. But who thinks of the chickens, cows, pigs - even cats, dogs and monkeys - who are killed and eaten daily around the world? Seals are not just beaten and thrown away, they are a product used for the world around them. As with anything, moderation and knowledge are key.
As for Mr. McCartney... I loved the Beatles but he should really stick to music. It was exciting to have him on our small island for a short time, but that kinda waned when he thought he was in Newfoundland! And though him and Heather were posing with the cute white baby seals, I have heard that they do not actually hunt them until they turn grey. It doesn't make it better. If only people could see that just because they are cute, it doesn't make them less of a product than anything else we kill and consume.
I definatly agree that this seems to be more extreem for some because of the seals being oh so cute. I did read a statistic in the paper the other day regarding the seal population increasing dramatically in the past 10 years. I am all for protecting the animals, but the media seems to be making this situation worse then it really is.
This is an article I happened upon.
http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news0404/easter.html
I think it adds another layer to the argument that the seal hunt is not so bad.
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