St.Lawrence Seal Hunt
Paul McCartney's deceased wife was a vegetarian, and more power to her. Sir Paul sees it as one of the focal points of his celebrated life to pursue her dedication to the humane treatment of animals, and who can possibly find fault with this? That he and his wife Heather Mills McCartney find meaning in lending their world-recognition names to enterprises surrounding activism on behalf of the environment and animal rights helps to make this world a better place. So good on 'ya, Paul and Heather McCartney.But are you that busy and blindsided by the irritation factor involved in getting all the facts (details, details!) that you must perforce venture blindly in a fashion made famous by the Spanish novelist, Cervantes, so you're content to forge ahead without knowing everything that you should before you begin your protest?
The original protests by animal rights activists against the hunting of white-coat seal pups held the world's attention by the highly-publicized and deplored spectre of seal hunters bludgeoning tiny defenceless new-borns to death in front of their defenceless mothers. Public outrage was expressed in no uncertain terms and was fully instrumental in bringing about needed changes to the annual seal hunt.
The hunt, as it is now conducted and overseen by the federal Fisheries Department observes strict rules of humane harvesting of this resource. It's painful to use such words as "harvesting" and "resource" to denote the butchering however humanely undertaken, of animals. On the other hand, human beings have always sought out and hunted animals to consume their flesh and utilize their coats.
Think about the average human diet and what people consume in relation to the animal kingdom. All of these animals are processed in slaughter houses and people who prepare their meat as the fundamental constituents of their diet think very little of the origins of the meat and the lives of the animals which have been grown for that express purpose. That some of us have become increasingly aware that these animals express emotions, have inner lives, and are yet destined for the dinner plate, has resulted in consumer demands for humane treatment and slaughter, mostly thanks to the work of animal activists.
Before venturing out onto the icefloes to gently confront the harp seal pups Sir Paul and his wife had an obligation to their cause and their own credibility to become aware of latter-day facts. Sir Paul stated that he'd heard anecdotal information that the seal population was in decline and that the protest against the hunt was also one of conservation. Not true, there is a healthy population of seals, in fact an abundance, and the white coats are not hunted at all.
That made for some interesting television footage and print photography, though. Sir Paul and wife staging a high-profile protest by hunkering down on the ice in front of those white-coated, calf-eyed pups emoting sympathy at their plight. And the pup closest to this brace of animal protectors taking umbrage at their invasion of its personal space barking "back off", as the inestimable pair did just that, in one great big hurry of alarm.
Get the message?
posted by Pieface @ Friday, March 03, 2006
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