Save the Seal!
“Film images show a hulking seal hunter walking across the ice in pursuit of a baby seal as it wobbles to escape. The hunter stomps on the seal's tail, raises his hakapik (a spiked club) and bangs the baby seal on the head, once, twice, until the animal lies still. The hunter turns the club, hooks the seal's silvery head and drags it away, leaving a line of bright red blood in the snow.
The camera cuts to a seal appearing to gasp for air, blood running from its nose as it lies on an ice floe. Not far away, a sealer sharpens his knife blade. The seal seems to be thrashing as its fur is sliced from its torso. Behind it, a pile of carcasses rises, bloodied seals without their fur, black eyes like marbles without lids, left behind in the Atlantic sun.
An injured seal lifted her head and cries. Blood’s coming from her mouth and nose, and she’s making horrible sounds. She tries to crawl, clearly in agony, but can’t get away from him…”
I could show you many photo’s and even video’s of this monstrous event, yet, I felt extremely sick after looking at it, so I’ll spare you the agony of watching.
Seal poaching has started again in places like Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. To many, this seems like an event of the past, yet it has started again, worse than ever. 300 000 baby seals have already been killed, but if that isn’t bad enough, many more are to be killed. The Canadian government is allowing 1 million seals to be killed in 3 years! The Canadian’s don’t wear the fur themselves, but sell it on the market in Asia. It has become a huge trend to wear fur over there… and many don’t object to this at all.
The baby seals are killed because of their white coat, some of them barely 3 weeks old. They are clubbed to death with hakapiks or by the end of the poacher’s gun. It usually takes around 3 hits to make the animal lie still. Then, as the seal is still gasping for breath and trying to escape, the poacher starts skinning the animal, not hesitating to wait for it to die properly, because he has many to kill and little time. In a recent rapport it was concluded that 42% of the baby seal were skinned alive. In other cases, the seal simply bleeds to death, or to make the death quicker, the poachers kick the animal several times. All this time the mother watching on helplessly as her baby is brutally and loathsomely murdered. After the seals repulsive death, the seal is put on a hook and dragged over the ice, to be put on top of the mountain of dead seals already slaughtered.
The older on looking seals watch their dead young lie there in herds in the burning sun, in a puddle of blood. Goodbye to their young.
So why are have 300 000 seals already been killed? That’s right, because of us. Now I’m not pointing a finger at any one, but because of mankind, these poor mammals are being slaughtered. Fur coats seem to be more important to the public, than the gift of life.
Other’s say it’s the seal’s fault that there is not enough fish in the sea. It’s a lie. There are plenty of fish to go around; this is just an excuse to hunt them down. Seal’s can’t be blamed for this!
So what can we do? Well, I could tell you that there’s a ton of stuff to be done, but I’d be lying. Yet, it’s the little things that can make a difference. By simply spreading the word, or by informing people of what is going on, you can make a difference. Supporting a local charity against animal fur could also help. The next time you’re in a clothing store, ready to buy that fantastic fur coat, take a step back and do the test:
- Look at the fur. Real fur usually consists of different colours. It is soft, fuzzy and fine. Usually large, thick hairs stick out. Fake fur looks a lot simpler, and all the hairs are the same size and thickness. It’s all the same colour too.
- Feel the fur. Real fur feels soft and fuzzy. Fake fur feels rough and a little sticky.
- Test the fur. Gently pull a few hairs out of the coat, and put it in a flame. Real fur burns just like real hair and stinks just like when you burn your own hair. Fake fur melts like plastic, and smells like it too.
Keep a watchful eye, because for all you know you might be wearing a baby seal unintentionally!
So there you have it. I hope you’ll support Lauren and I, and fight against this gruesome happening, because remember you too can make a difference!
WARNING: The following images could be shocking
*Pictures are still to be uploaded. Check back soon to see for yourself what these slaughterers do to the poor seals.
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