ANIMAL FORUM

>From: Anthony Marr
>Sent: 3/30/2008 12:40:58 PM
>Subject: Sea Shepherd eye-witness report of seal massacre cruelty
>
>30 Mar 2008 11:45
>
>Sea Shepherd Crew Defy Canadas Ban on Documenting the
>Slaughter
>
>The Sea Shepherd crew onboard the Farley Mowat documented
>scenes of excessive brutality this morning as they moved through
>the ice some 35 miles north of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
>
>Sea Shepherd crew observed seals being shot and wounded and
>thrashing about in agony on the surface of the ocean.
>
>The priorities of the Canadian Coast Guard seem to be in harassing
>the crew of the Farley Mowat and trying to prevent documentation
>of the inhumane slaughter of seals.
>
>Two coast guard vessels shadowed the Farley Mowat all morning.
>The Coast Guard vessel CCGS Des Groseilliers ordered the Farley
>Mowat to leave Canadian waters and to not approach any sealing
>operation stating that a permit is required from the Canadian
>government to observe the seals being slaughtered.
>
>The Farley Mowat responded by saying; permits. We dont need
>no stinkin permits.
>
>The Canadian government has no authority over a foreign registered
>ship traveling outside the Canadian twelve mile limit. The Farley
>Mowat is a Dutch ship with a Dutch Captain and a crew from the
>Netherlands, Great Britain, Sweden, France, Australia, New Zealand,
>the USA, Canada and South Africa.
>
>The crew of the Farley Mowat believe the Canadian Coast Guard
>should be concentrating on search and rescue operations instead of
>censoring observation of the slaughter of seals.
>
>Canadian Coast Guard incompetence has already led to the death
>of four sealers.
>
>Yesterday four men from the Magdalene Islands died when their
>12 meter aluminum hulled boat the LAcadien II capsized while being
>towed through heavy ice by the Coast Guard icebreaker Sir William
>Alexander.
>
>Bruno-Pierre Bourque one of the two survivors of the LAcadien II,
>blamed the tragedy on excessive speed and lack of attention by the
>Coast Guard.
>
>Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson Mike Voigt defended the Coast
>Guard saying there are no regulations for towing in the ice and the
>Coast Guard has little experience in towing vessels through the ice.
>
>This is incredible, said Captain Paul Watson, himself a former
>member of the Canadian Coast Guard. The government of Canada
>allows hundreds of small non-ice class vessels to navigate in the
>most hostile waters on earth in heavy ice and they then say they have
>no contingency plans to deal with rescuing these same vessels.
>Perhaps if they spent less time making plans to prevent the
>documentation of the seal slaughter and more time being concerned
>about protecting human lives, these men would not have died.
>
>The following are eye-witness accounts from crewmembers onboard
>the Farley Mowat. The very witnessing of these events is considered
>illegal by the Canadian government.
>
> We encountered the sealing vessel the Cathy Erlene, registered to
>Sydney NS. Upon approach we saw two small aluminum boats carrying
>two men each darting from ice floe to ice floe searching for baby seals.
>It seemed they had a system. The barbarians on the Cathy Erlene were
>cruising through the ice searching for the few seal pups there were.
>They carried on their disgusting massacre carelessly firing upon the
>unsuspecting babies, their only goal to find and maim the infants.
>We witnessed two helpless victims, meters from the ship writhing in
>agony, hot blood spilling onto the ice and heard their cries as they
>continued to suffer for a good long time awaiting the small boats to
>arrive and fulfill their doom. Stepping onto the ice the babies, still
>alive turn their heads to the approaching man with a club. There is
>nothing humane about this massacre. What I saw today I will never
>forget, their cries will fill my thoughts and torture my soul. I can say
>I am truly embarrassed to be of the same race as these cowards and
>ashamed to be a Canadian today.
> -Shannon Mann, Canada
>
> Nothing prepared me for this, no video or previous encounter with
>the sealers on the ice. I watched in horror and disgust as two
>murderers clambered from their small boat, club in hand, and smashed
>in the skull of a baby harp seal. For an hour or so my memories are
>fuzzy with blood, abuse and worst of all the cries of seals as they are
>brutally killed. We will do whatever we can to expose this unnecessary,
>disgusting slaughter of life. Canada can not continue to censor its dirty
>secret any longer.
> - Laura Dakin UK
>
> First sight of human life on the ice I see two men lifting a seal impaled
>through the neck onto a sealing boat... the seal was still moving. There
>was lots of ice covered with blood everywhere. There was a larger boat
>that the smaller boats were dropping off the seals to be skinned, one of
>the crew of the boat got up to wave smugly at us. They were skinning
>them and throwing the seal carcases back overboard. They call it a seal
>hunt, but I dont think walking up to a stationary seal and smashing its
>head in is hunting - it is an act of pure cruelty. No wonder they dont
>want the rest of the world to see what is happening.
> -Daniel Bishop, England
>
> It is untrue to say that killing these seals is being done humanely.
>Today we have seen sealers shooting the baby seals to wound them so
>they cant flee, beating them with wooden clubs, then killing them by
>cutting the arteries under their flippers. The seals die slowly and in pain.
>It is a horrible thing to see.
> - Dr Merryn Redenbach, Melbourne Australia
>
> When I woke this morning I looked through the port hole and saw
>red patches of blood on the ice and I knew the seal hunt had begun.
>On the deck I immediately saw a small boat and two men who stopped
>on a little piece of ice in order to slaughter an innocent baby harp seal.
>Actually there were two small boats and one sealing ship. The hunters
>carried a hakapik and bashed the seals head. Some of the seals were
>still alive when they were delivered back to the sealing ship where they
>were finally skinned.
> - Anne Fourier, France
>
>The Farley Mowat will continue to document the atrocities of the sealers
>and the incompetence of the Canadian Coast Guard.
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To all brave souls from diverse lands onboard the Farley Mowat:
>
> You are the eyes and the conscience of the world. The truth needs to
>be seen and told. We on land are organizing a Write Europe campaign
>in your support. The more you see and the more you tell us of what
>you see, the more we will write, and the more the European nations will
>act towards banning Canadian seal products. Together, we shall succeed.
>
> Anthony
>
>
> Anthony Marr, founder
> Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
> www.HOPE-CARE.org
> www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
> www.ARConference.org
>

> Good luck in stopping the seal hunt.