Telling the truth about seal hunting
But the income generated by the commercial seal hunt doesn't go as far as the Canadian government would like you to think: it accounts for less than 1% of Newfoundland's GDP - an average of only $1,000 per sealer.
The seals are slaughtered in the most inhumane fashion during the hunt - routinely clubbed or shot and left to suffer on the ice, then dragged over the side of boats with sharpened metal hooks. Some are even skinned alive.
When Danny Williams, Premier of Labrador and Newfoundland, was given the chance to tell the truth about the hunt during a recent US television talk show on CNN, he chose instead to lay false claims about the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and its documentation of the hunt's cruelty.
Claiming to speak on behalf of Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Williams said: "IFAW representatives, veterinarians and other experts have said the seal hunt is humane."
The truth? There isn't a single reputable "expert" or "veterinary group" that has observed the seal hunt and called it humane. In fact, IFAW experts concluded the slaughter to be inherently cruel and horrific. Doesn't the public at least deserve to know the facts about how baby seals are being killed?
Paul Kinsella
53 Lorcan Grove
Santry
Dublin 9
