The Hindu : International : A carnage on the frozen vastness

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 01, 2005

International

International

A carnage on the frozen vastness

By Paul Brown

NEWFOUNDLAND (CANADA), MARCH 31. It was carnage on a scale the frozen ice floes of Newfoundland have not seen for more than half a century. The cull started early in the morning, with more than 70 boats disgorging hundreds of seal hunters on to the ice.

By the end of the day more than 15,000 harp seal cubs, most less than six weeks old, lay dead, clubbed to death and skinned to provide coats, hats, handbags and other accessories for the European fashion trade.

The contentious harp seal hunt, the target of protests since the 1960s, begins about two weeks after the seal pups are born and their fur changes from white to grey.

Animal rights activists claim the pups are often skinned alive, but sealers and Government officials who monitor the hunt insist the pups die instantly in compliance with strict guidelines.

The Canadian Government claims the cull will protect fish stocks and bring in much needed revenue and employment.

Phyllis Campbell-McCrae, from the U.K. office of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), observed the start of the cull yesterday. ``There was lots of rain mixing with the blood of the seals and we were wading through pools of blood with the odd carcass floating by,'' she said.

``It was simply awful. They club the seal and turn it over and slice it down the middle to get the skin off.

``They are supposed to do the eye test, that is touch the eye of the seal they have clubbed to make sure it does not blink, that way they know it is dead before they skin it. They work at such a frenetic pace they often do not bother.''

She said tests carried out in previous seasons on cubs that had been clubbed and skinned showed that 42 per cent were still conscious when skinned.

The pups are fed for two weeks by their mothers before being abandoned to fend for themselves. They are called ``beaters'' at this stage because they are unable to swim and when the ice melts they fall into the water and beat it with their flippers to keep afloat. Left alone they learn to swim and begin looking for food but before the ice melts they make an easy target for sealers and have no means of escape.

The killing of seals has been controversial for years with IFAW saying it is unacceptably cruel. —

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International