This week, the civilized world stands in ghastly awe. Its eyes blink in unutterable astonishment at the return of the annual Canadian Seal Slaughter, quite possibly the darkest perpetrator of animal-cruelty to be found anywhere on Planet Earth. I pray that everyone makes this their issue. Even if you believe in nothing, believe in this: that Canada must be stopped in its sanction of this unconscionable institution. A country that proposes, in 2010, to host the Winter Olympics, which celebrate peace and goodwill, has perhaps even greater shame to bear for the cruel irony of its crimes against animals. Before these atrocities have ended, over 300,000 baby seals will meet their demise on the ice. They will be sleeping as their murderers approach, little knowing what awaits. Some will go down instantly to the unforgiving trauma of a bludgeon to the skull; others will survive with scarcely more than a wish to die in some other way. I cannot express the sadness I feel as I read account after account of this brutal massacre. These are baby seals! They’ve barely begun to live! But no sooner have they learned to take joy in living, than they are slaughtered in the most horrific way imaginable. Why? Why must people seek the death of innocent creatures? Why must they destroy life so that some shallow society person halfway around the globe, can trot around in seal skins?
What is wrong with people?
The United States has proven its condemnation of this annual brutality, as have other countries, through petitions signed, and letters personally addressed to the Canadian President. Yet Canada will not stop. They doggedly refuse to withhold hunting licenses. It now behooves us to boycot Canadian seafood, and to enact personal embargos against Canadian products. The only way to make Canada see reason is to show them that the world of which they are a part, and the global economy in which they trade, will no longer tolerate the Seal Hunt. Please let everyone know that this is an issue worthy of their attention. If one must take a stand, then stand for life!
No doubt more familiar to people than the Seal Hunt, is the latest flu pandemic to rage across borders. Over 80 people have succumbed to Swine Flu, and cases have been reported as near as New York City. Little wonder that such diseases begin with the animals we imprison and raise for slaughter. Just another example that our methods of self-sustenance are fatally flawed. I would ask that each of us, this day, considers the many ways in which our mistakes return to us. Perhaps, if we didn’t subject pigs to the heartbreaking conditions of our agribusiness, diseases like Swine Flu would never come to afflict.
Some weeks just really bum you out…
April 28, 2009 at 12:52 pm |
if only they weren’t so damned cute.
April 28, 2009 at 7:37 pm |
But thank goodness they are, or people might not feel as sympathetic to the seals’ plight! However we get there, whether by “guilting” people into it or showing that it actually is wrong, I hope the rest of the world can change Canada’s mind on this particular issue!
April 28, 2009 at 10:25 pm |
If a country was killing babies the entire planet would be up in arms and make that country put a stop to it how is this any different? It is a shame that animals are not given any rights just because they do not communicate the way humans do or are the leading species. Anyone who has gone to the web site or has looked at the video is horrified by what is done to these animals. Perhaps the flu strains are the way of mother nature fighting back. I agree with you Marlon, there are consequenses to our actions espically the action of doing nothing.
April 29, 2009 at 4:17 am |
Ok I seriously had to go and throw up. I have really believed canada to be a progressive thinking country, what is going on here. How can this be done? Who is in charge of this? I don’t know what I have bought from canada in the past, but its not happening in the future. I am going to read the links when I am done and I am sure it is going to make me feel worse. This is a sad week indeed. I am very sorry marlon, that there are people out there who can do this.
April 30, 2009 at 10:56 pm |
Thank you all so much for your responses! This gets me excited. If we can get enough people to recognize the inherent wrong in the Canadian Seal Hunt, then we have a real chance of helping animals.
After my initial post, I asked my partner if there is anything we can do to help progress. He told me that, this being a Canadian issue, Congress has little power to effect legal change. Howeveer, a Congressional Resolution can be passed, which would serve on behalf of the United States, as a condemnation of the practice. A member of the Senate sponsored a similar act a few years back; it may be that something can be done. I’ve contacted my partner’s legislative aide on the environment, and am waiting to hear back.
In the meantime, we’ve all become aware of the issue, and that’s a positive step! Now we can spread the word.
It’s really baffling to me that some people can be so inert to the suffering of life, that executions of this kind can fail to register as wrong. Even if people never completely forego animal products in their lives, there is still reason to speak out against abuses of this sort. It’s a shame that people don’t believe they can get along well-enough with what they already have; they have to take more, and at such a heart-rending cost.
May 1, 2009 at 3:49 am |
I totally agree that we have to speak out against abuse of any type. I am waiting to hear the response that you will get and see where we can go from here. I really am sad that I did not even know that abuse like this is happening. Please let me know if you find out what we can do to stop this crime.