Canada's annual seal slaughter began today, Friday, March 28, at dawn.
Canada's National Post today includes an article by Marianne White headed, "Activists allege cover-up in seal hunt; 'This says to the world that there is something to hide.'"
It opens:
"Animal welfare activists accused the Canadian government yesterday of denying them access to the start of the seal hunt to cover-up the annual harvest.
"The hunt was to begin half an hour before dawn today in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, but observers and journalists will not be able to document it because they were not issued permits by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans."
We read that "a decision will be made today on issuing permits to observers based on the number of sealing vessels involved in the harvest. The Humane Society was planning on taking journalists, mostly Europeans, to the first day of hunting today by boat and helicopter."
You'll find the whole article on line at
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=ff72842d-5f5b-4503-b676-ec103414bbaa OR http://tinyurl.com/2bs3or
HSUS's Wayne Pacelle has been blogging about the issue. Check out http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/
His blog tells us:
"Observation of the commercial seal hunt is guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
Sea Shepherd has a history of directly interfering with the hunt. You'll find Sea Shepherd's take at
http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_080327_1.html
The seal hunt has made news in Australia, both in Sydney's Daily Telegraph and Melbourne's Herald Sun, Saturday, March 29. The same article, by Peta Hellard, is headed, "Slow death of seal clubbing" in the Telegraph and "Seal Pups Die Today" in the Herald Sun.
It opens:
"Every year, hundreds of thousands of female harp seals flock to ice platforms off the east coast of Canada to each give birth to a single pup.
"And weeks later, about 5000 seal boats arrive to kill those pups for their pelts in the largest marine mammal hunt in the world."
You'll find that article on line at
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23447157-5012748,00.html
and can respond to the Daily Telegraph at http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/editorial/letter/ and the Herald Sun at http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/editorial/letter/
Letters to the editor for Canada's national Post can be sent at http://tinyurl.com/3agn6t
The story opens the door for letters on any aspect of the cruelty with which we treat other species.
The issue has been largely ignored by the US press. But as the hunt starts today, we have an opportunity to address the issue, particularly in the smaller papers that publish a high proportion of letters they receive and aren't sticklers with regard to letters being based on a story already in the paper. Don't hesitate to ask me for help if you have trouble finding the correct email address for a letter to your editor.
Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)
Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read advance reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals” and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video.
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Date: Fri Mar 28 17:16:12 2008
