Calling the 2005 seal hunt "the worst I've ever seen," HSUS Canadian Wildlife Issues Director Rebecca Aldworth held a press conference in Toronto on Wednesday to show members of the media videotape footage demonstrating that sealers this year violated not only Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations but also the country's criminal code.
The footage did not put sealers in a good light. It showed seals that had been battered with a club or hakapik and then left to die slowly, or seals hooked and dragged, or even seals who were skinned while still alive. The footage also showed sealers verbally and physically confronting government-licensed observers, including members of The HSUS's Protect Seals team.
Two experts, Dr. Mary Richardson and Professor Ron Sklar, joined Aldworth at the conference to shed light on the assembled videotape footage. Richardson is a veterinary expert in humane slaughter and a past chair of both the Animal Welfare Committee of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association and the Animal Care Review Board for the Solicitor General of Ontario. She guided journalists through the illegal and cruel acts shown in the footage. She said the tapes clearly show that many of the clubbed seals were still conscious and struggling for prolonged periods.
'Inherently Inhumane'
Richardson challenged the government's allegation that this year's slaughter of more than 300,000 seal pups was conducted "humanely." She argued that given the sheer number of seals killed, the method of killing, the short time in which the seals are killed (the bulk of the killing takes place in a matter of days), and the extreme conditions under which the killing takes place, it would be impossible for the sealers or the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to ensure the hunt was humane. She outlined it this way:
"Imagine taking your dog in to be euthanized and finding out that the veterinarian was going to use a bat to do the job. Would that be acceptable to you?
"Now, imagine the veterinarian, not with just your dog, but a field full of dogs to kill, and he only has a bat, and a couple of minutes. It gets messier, doesn't it?
"Now put the vet, the bat, and all the dogs on fun-house floorboards that move. In these conditions, can your dog die peacefully? No she can't&And neither can the seals. The seal hunt is inherently inhumane."
Aldworth added, "I've searched for a long time to find a word to describe the cruelty I see during the commercial seal hunt, and the only word I have come up with is 'obscene.' This cruelty that we're seeing here today on this videotape&occurs every year at the commercial seal hunt. I see it in every place that I land in a helicopter, with every boat I film, in every direction I look. These scenes of cruelty are routine in the commercial seal hunt."
The video evidence, along with testimony from world experts in humane slaughter, has been sent to the DFO for possible charges under the Marine Mammal Regulations.
Harassment of Observers
Footage of sealers threatening, harassing, and intimidating observers on the ice showed that the lawlessness of the hunt wasn't limited to the treatment of seals.
Sklar, McGill University professor of criminal law and constitutional law, told reporters that in his opinion, The HSUS had documented "at least five violations of the Criminal Code of Canada by seal hunters at the scene against the observers, who were there lawfully under license from the Department of Fisheries and Ocean and were in compliance with the ten-meter distance from the activities of commercial sealing set by the DFO."
Sklar specified that in his judgment, the sealers' committed the following illegal acts: "uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, intimidation, criminal harassment, assault, and attempted aggravated assault."
Sklar went on: "It is further my opinion that the rights of the observers of the seal hunt, under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, were violated by the actions of the seal hunters at the site, since these actions were committed with the knowledge of members of the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] and representatives of the Department of Fisheries and Ocean who took no effective steps to prevent them from happening."
The footage has been sent to the Prince Edward Island Royal Canadian Mounted Police office in pursuit of criminal charges.
What Do You Do When the Law Isn't Enforced?
The Canadian government immediately tried to dismiss the new footage. Although he had not yet seen the tapes, DFO spokesman Phil Jenkins weighed in on the matter. He told journalists that "freshly killed seals often exhibit a 'swim reflex'," a phenomenon hunt supporters often use to discount footage of seals showing responses to pain.
But veterinarians say video evidence gathered by The HSUS and others actually shows conscious seals making deliberate movements—such as crawling, lifting their heads, clenching their upper flippers, and crying out—as they are dragged across the ice, cut open, and even skinned.
None of which can be dismissed as post-death reflexes.
Jenkins' promise that the DFO enforces the laws regarding the seal hunt—"Where we find violations and people not following the rules, we will prosecute them—and we do"—would be far more convincing if his department had a history of doing so. Despite receiving video evidence of more than 660 apparent violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations, including seals being skinned alive, the DFO has refused to lay a single charge in response.
At the press conference, one reported noted, "Year after year, you tell us that the seal hunt is cruel—we've all seen the images—so what is new here?"
Aldworth answered, "What is new is that we now have the ammunition to shut down this cruel hunt for good. When the first baby seal was clubbed to death on the ice flows this spring, The Humane Society of the United States launched a global boycott of Canadian seafood products. Given that 70% of Canada's seafood is exported to the U.S. each year, the boycott gives us a quick and effective way to directly pressure the very people responsible for the hunt."
The HSUS and other members of the Protect Seals Network have already been joined by companies such as Legal Sea Foods, Down East Seafoods, Spectrum Organics, Whole Foods in the United States, and Marks & Spencer in the United Kingdom. We are asking other distributors, retailers, and restaurants to join our fight. So far, the top U.S. seafood restaurant chain, Red Lobster, has refused.
The members of the press who attended the press conference—including major Canadian news agencies such as the Canadian Press, the Toronto Sun, Global Television, and CP24—were far more cooperative. The next day, stories appeared on television stations and in newspapers from coast to coast in Canada and as far away as Florida and Alaska. Both of Canada’s national newspapers publicized the footage.
Said Aldworth, "The support of The HSUS members made it possible for us to document the 2005 hunt—and exposing the resulting footage to the Canadian and international media will play a big part in ending this cruel slaughter."
What You Can Do
Politely ask Red Lobster to help protect seals by limiting or eliminating Canadian seafood.
Participate in our Red Lobster Day of Protest on June 25. We will soon be posting information about demonstrations in your area.
