26 March, 2006 | Leave a Comment
I was having a pretty good day today until I went out and saw this picture on the front page of the Sunday Mirror:
What is this picture, you say? Well, it’s a big strong man – beating a defenseless baby seal to death with a club while it screams in agony. Is that what real manly men do? Apparently so, in Canada at least.
The petition I wrote about a few days ago didn’t work, obviously. I’m not an idiot. I was 99.9% sure it wouldn’t work. But that’s not the point. The reason such things don’t work is because most people shrug their shoulders and say, “Oh, that’ll never work, why bother?” Collective apathy is the norm nowadays. The politicians count on it.
It seems the international outcry only strengthened Canada’s resolve. As a result, they increased the quota of seals that can be killed. If you have a toddler or have ever babysat one, you are familiar with this tactic. You tell the child to eat their peas and they refuse. You threaten them and in the middle of the resulting tantrum, they throw the peas on the floor and scream “You can’t tell me what to do!” It’s simple psychology, really.
Below (in blue), some excerpts from the Sunday Mirror, regarding the seal slaughter:
“The hunters are supposed to club them three times over the head, then touch their eyeball to make sure they are dead before being skinned…[the seal is] a battered heap, waiting for the skinners who follow the hunters. Blood runs from its wounds and its mouth. The force of the blows has forced its eyes from its sockets. I turn away only to catch out of the corner of my eye the sudden movement of a bloody shape. A seasoned hunter will you tell this is just a death spasm. Some vets, however, think differently. According to one report, as many as 40 per cent of seal pups could still be alive when they are skinned. This one is wriggling and writhing in agony, as it is dragged along, leaving a crimson trail. The hunters lift it, still thrashing, aboard their boat to skin out of sight of our camera.”
…
“Today, the pups’ freshly-skinned carcasses, still steaming from their body heat, litter the ice. Their mothers lie beside them, pining for their dead babies, their mournful bleating carried in the cold air.
Nothing prepares you for such a sickening spectacle.
They call it a hunt, of course, to make it sound like a noble challenge between man and beast. But a harp seal can’t run like a fox, it has nowhere to hide like a deer in a forest, it can’t fight back like a grizzly. It just lies there, helplessly waiting to be slaughtered.”
Hey, I’ve got an idea. Next year, why don’t these macho Canadian hunters beat polar bears to death with a club? Imagine that scene! Now there’s something I’d like to see on the front of the Sunday Mirror.
Anglofille said @ 4:51 pm | news & politics |
