The following is an E-mail this site is sending to all UK parliament members.
Dear Sir or Madame,
When one considers the fact that UK fishermen are permitted to kill seals on sight and do not use any of the animal it is
hard not to say that the UK’s recent call for an EU wide ban on seal products is grossly hypocritical. In your eyes seals
are “pests”. The apparent disregard the parliament showed the conflict of interest between Tony Banks’ crusade to end the
seal hunt and his close friendship to Brian Davies, founder of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is also
quite disturbing. In Canada we call this a conflict of interest.
Seeing the Canadian seal hunt is not and never has been a conservation issue, a desire to ban by the UK would be due to
humane killing issues. In the late 60’s and early 70’s multiple studies carried out at the request of the United States
government found the hakapik to be the most humane tool for dispatching a seal within the environment in which the hunt
takes place. All studies of the Canadian seal hunt report the hakapik to be a humane killing tool. This being said, the
greatest portion of animals killed during the hunt are shot and not “clubbed”.
The only “scientific” evidence animal rights proponents have in relation to inhumane killing within the Canadian seal hunt
is a report released in 2001 by the IFAW. An organization of questionable repute
which has been twice refused membership in the IUCN, one of the worlds foremost respected animal welfare organizations.
The 2001 report was paid for and written by the IFAW under the guise of proposing changes to the seal hunt, not ending it.
This is hard to believe when one considers the fact that they were offered equal say in the management of the seal hunt
only six years previous. This document is effectively a well orchestrated propaganda document which has served the animal
rights agenda very well over the past six years even though it has never been peer reviewed.
Canadian citizens do not skin animals alive. This is an outlandish statement which begs the recipient to ignore common
sense to believe it. To do such a thing would not only risk the quality of the pelt but would also risk the hunter as
well. Another focus of animal rights protestors are the carcasses left on the ice. 60% of each seal is used. What is left
on the ice is bone, offal and a very small portion of meat, all of which return to the environment as food for every
manner of marine creature when the ice melts.
The seal hunt is the most regulated and monitored hunting in the world. The harp seal population has grown for decades and
presently stands at almost 6,000,000 animals. For decades independent veterinarians have said the hunt is as humane as any
abattoir in western society. However, emotion and gory pictures (which could be obtained in any EU abattoir) combined with
an unquestioning, uncritical media have “sold” the animal rights message to European politicians and public.
Canadians, Americans, Europeans and most other civilized peoples accept the idea of animal welfare (sound conservation and
humane killing) and reject the concept of animal rights (the end of man’s usage of animals for any purpose). An animal
rights agenda which is hiding its true goals behind a propaganda campaign designed to make people think sealing, or any
other animal use, is an animal welfare or environmental issue.
Through thesealfishery.com, citizens will be able to contact UK politicians and ask that they look seriously at what is
being done by the animal rights movement. Asking that facts rather than fantasy, that science rather than emotion, that
rational thought rather than propaganda be the guiding force behind their actions as parliamentarians.
You are not being asked to accept these views without question but simply that you investigate the question carefully and
fully before acting to condemn.
Sincerely,
TheSealFishery.com
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