ANIMAL FORUM

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:35:46 +0100, pearl
wrote:

PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2008.04.15
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A12
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen
WORD COUNT: 292

Seal of disapproval

Red blood. White ice. The stark imagery has made seal hunting one of
the most controversial jobs in the world. It has also focused negative
attention on Canada, where most of the worlds seal hunting takes
place.

Pictures of puppy-eyed seals struck and bleeding understandably elicit
emotional responses; those images have been used extensively by the
anti-sealing lobby for just that reason. The images also tend to draw
political action, such as the European Unions prospective ban on seal
products -- but that is not as easy to understand.
Decisions that affect peoples livelihoods (the seal hunt currently
employs upwards of 5,000 Atlantic Canadians) should be based on more
than just emotion. While the seal hunt is not pretty, numerous studies
have concluded that it is quick and painless and at least as humane as
the methods used in commercial slaughterhouses.
Which is more than can be said for the production of foie gras, for
example, so dear to European palates, in which geese are restrained
and force-fed. The production of veal, which was also developed to
feed European tastes, has long been criticized as cruel and unusual
punishment of animals. In a world of factory farming, seals at least
get to spend their lives in the wild.
The closely-watched seal harvest is conducted in a controlled fashion.
The survival of the seal industry is important for Atlantic Canada;
Canadian governments continue to ensure that this traditional hunt is
carried out responsibly and humanely.
Some critics will say that the words humane and hunt are mutually
exclusive, no matter the animal. But thats an argument for another
day.
In the meantime, humans continue to use and consume animals, and
Europe has no business lecturing Canada about it.

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:16:40 GMT, klunk
wrote:


I must have rattled my zipper, you came running pretty quickly.
When you have something to offer the conversation as an adult, come
back and people may actually listen to you. If all you do is play
mindreader and try to explain what another is trying to say in a post
without talking to that person, youre just blowing smoke.

I asked Pearl a question, go to the corner and lick your nuts like a
good dog and let her answer.

Paul Morgan wrote in message
news:8pla04p3qgkkb9p2ea8o6rdjjbe32t2ts7@4ax.com...

ROTFLMAO... apparently, your embarrassment over your self-serving stupidity
causes you to have a tantrum when you find yourself in over your head... ;-)

Paul Morgan wrote in message
news:onga045don24ljr38v0vkkrlf1vajj1n3d@4ax.com...

Cruelty must be whitewashed by a moral excuse, and pretense
of reluctance. - George Bernard Shaw

Live From the Ice
April 14, 2008

Until Its Over

by Rebecca Aldworth
9:11 A.M.

For me, the 2008 seal hunt comes down to three young seal pups
huddled together on an ice pan. They lay together, fat and happy
in the sun. Without warning, bullets ripped across the ice, striking
two of them.

One was shot but not killed, and she began to writhe in agony,
lifting her head. Another was shot and - still conscious - she
slipped into the ocean, where she thrashed around as the blood
poured from her. It took a lifetime for the small boat with two
sealers on it to arrive.

[Video]

They finally got close enough for one of the sealers to get out on
the ice. He ran over to the wounded pup, clubbed her on the head,
then tossed her onto a pile of dead seals in the boat like garbage.
She was quickly sliced open and skinned, her carcass cut out and
thrown over the side of the boat.

The wounded seal in the water was still thrashing around, blood
coloring everything around her. A sealer leaned over the side of
the boat, stabbed her through the flipper with a metal hook, and
dragged her close to the boat.

Then he reached down and grabbed her by the flipper, hauled her
onto the boat and tossed her onto the pile of dead seals. She was
likely still conscious, but he didnt check, and he didnt club her
to finish her off. Instead, he flipped her over and cut her from top
to bottom.

But for me, the 2008 seal hunt is also about the third seal, the lucky
one who got away. He slipped into the water as the bullets flew by,
and swam off as fast as he could. He was spared, just like thousands
more who will not be killed this year because global markets for seal
products are closing.

Because prices for the skin of a baby seal have fallen dramatically,
and many sealers are choosing to stay home this year instead of
heading for the ice floes. The manager from a top sealskin
processor in Canada explained that buyers have been mindful of a
potential EU ban on seal products when setting the low prices this
year. Just the potential for an EU ban has brought the prices down
low enough to stop two thirds of the sealing vessels from leaving
port.

If the EU goes through with the ban, millions of animals will be
spared a horrible fate. Our campaign is working. But while this
hunt goes on, we will be here. Bearing witness to this cruel
slaughter, gathering evidence to shut this hunt down for good.
Please help pass the ban - sign the petition here.
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/protectseals pledge challenge

http://www.hsus.org/marine mammals/marine mammals news/live from ice
032408.html

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:53:27 GMT, Chom Noamsky wrote:


They want wildlife to die from overpopulation problems like starvation
and disease, if they dont get ripped apart by killer whales first.


No. Even when animal products involve fewer deaths than vegetable
products while providing decent lives of positive value for both livestock
and wildlife, the eliminationists who hide beneath the gross misnomer
ar remain opposed to it. They do seem to be consistent in their lack
of consideration for both livestock and wildlife though, focusing on things
that disturb them about what other people do much more than how the
animals would be influenced by their own interference.

Fuckwit, your PC time and date are wrong. Fix them.

Meanwhile, Miss Rebecca ignores the fact that the other 98% of seals were
killed cleanly and humanely. The 2% can be chalked up to human error. Even
if the hunters achieved 100% clean kills this still wouldnt satisfy Miss
Rebecca because its not about reaching a compromise, its about do as I
command thee. ARAs like Miss Rebecca are essentially fascists.

Chom Noamsky wrote in message news:VIuNj.56$og.25@edtnps91...

See other post/s.


As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish,
he always had the same thought: In their behavior toward creatures,
all men were Nazis. The smugness with which man could do with other
species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the
principle that might is right. - Isaac Bashevis Singer