IFAW: Shocking new footage from seal hunt refutes ‘humane hunt’ claims of Canadian delegation touring Europe

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Friday, 04, Apr 2008 12:00

(Ottawa, Canada – April 4, 2008) – As Canadian government officials tour Europe in a bid to forestall an EU ban on seal products, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) released shocking new video evidence refuting the government’s claims that Canada’s commercial seal hunt has been made more humane.

Unacceptable cruelty, including wounded but conscious seals struggling in agony on the ice and the hooking and hoisting of a live seal into a boat has been documented at the hunt this week, at the very same time Canadian officials are heralding this year’s seal hunt as the most humane ever.

“The cruelty we witnessed earlier this week should not be tolerated anywhere in the world,” said Sheryl Fink, IFAW senior researcher and veteran seal hunt observer. “Once they see the evidence for themselves, it will be hard to convince Europeans that this hunt is anything other than inherently inhumane.”

Video evidence from the 2008 seal hunt clearly shows that the Canadian government’s new condition of licence - that seals should be bled out at some point ‘where possible’ - is not being followed by sealers.

“The Canadian Government can spin all the stories it wants in Europe, but our observations reveal the truth - no new condition of licence will make this hunt more humane,” said Robbie Marsland, Director of IFAW UK. “The rule is a sham and the cruelty is continuing.”

“The highly-touted condition of licence was obviously meant to convince Europeans that things have improved here in Canada. Our videos show that the new condition is not being followed, and that the rule is not being enforced. The Canadian delegation in Europe must be having a hard time explaining this one,” added Fink.

Fink also said she was “disgusted” by the Canadian government’s insistence on confusing the commercial seal hunt off Canada’s east coast with hunting by aboriginal peoples in Canada’s north.

“Inuit seal hunting and Canada’s commercial seal hunt are two completely different hunts, for different seals, in different places, at different times of the year,” said Fink. “This is a shameless attempt to play on the concerns of Europeans for aboriginal peoples, and to pass off the commercial hunt for fur coats as an Inuit hunt.”

IFAW is campaigning for an EU-wide ban on the trade in harp and hooded seal products to help end Canada’s commercial seal hunt. The campaign is gathering momentum with Belgium and the Netherlands having introduced national trade bans, and Germany and Italy working towards similar legislation. Trade bans are also in place in the US, Mexico, Croatia and Slovenia.

Ends

Footage of the opening days of this year’s commercial seal hunt is available at www.thenewsmarket.com/ifaw

For more information, footage, images or to arrange interviews contact Clare Sterling at the IFAW Press Office on 020 7587 6708, mobile 07917 507717, or email csterling@ifaw.org

Notes to Editors:

This year the Canadian government set a kill quota of 275,000 seals. The majority of seals killed in the hunt are young pups – last year 98% of those killed were pups under three months of age.

Seals are killed mostly for their pelts, which are used to provide unnecessary luxury fur items for the fashion industry. Most of the carcasses are left unused on the ice.

Scientists predict that hunting at such high levels threatens the future of the harp seal population, which could be reduced by 70% in the next 15 years. Current quotas also fail to take into account the added threat of climate change, which is reducing the ice cover necessary for harp seals to successfully give birth and nurse their pups.