Hunt Continues Without Mercy

This morning we awoke to howling winds and freezing rain. Our pilots confirmed our worst fears - we would not be able to fly for the entire day due to bad weather. What we saw yesterday was so devastating; to know it continues today, without witnesses, is heartbreaking.

Yesterday brought home to us all how horrible this hunt really is. So many of the pups being targeted were almost entirely covered with white fur, meaning they were just a couple of weeks old. Yet the hunters were shooting and clubbing them to death without mercy.

April 7, 2007/© The HSUS

My blood runs cold as I watch these animals so new to this world die for nothing but fashion. The seal pups are so young, and it is crystal clear they do not want to die. The seals try desperately to crawl away as the hunters run toward them. But the pups are utterly helpless, and there is simply no escape from these men who are so much larger and faster.

As the sealers raise their clubs, the pups turn and make a pathetic stand, rearing their small heads back and crying. But the clubs smash down each and every time. Yesterday, more often than not, those clubs struck the pups in their face or jaw, instead of their skulls, only intensifying the cruelty. Without missing a beat, the sealers stabbed the pups with metal hooks and dragged them, still struggling, across the ice floes.

I try hard every year to understand the motivations of these hunters. I know they believe that because their parents and grandparents hunted seals, they have the right to follow suit. They do not see anything wrong with what they are doing, and they are determined to keep this industry alive, even though it contributes to just a fraction of their annual income.

I grew up in this world, but I see it from another perspective. As I witness grown men beating to death defenseless baby seals, I do not see tradition and I do not see a historic industry. I see cowardice.

April 5, 2007/© The HSUS/Glover

Cowardice that my government has the gall to proudly defend as an acceptable activity in this century. But when you strip away the Canadian government's carefully crafted PR lines, all you are left with is a grown man versus a baby seal, the violence of the kill, and the red-stained ice left behind. As I watch this brutality, I cannot help but wonder how those industry spin doctors personally justify their actions. Perhaps they have never bothered to find out what it is they are promoting.

Tomorrow the boats from Newfoundland will arrive in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (map). When the weather permits, the ProtectSeals team will be there.