Photo by Norbert Rosing

Today is a day of pain for me: the Canadian Seal Hunt began this morning. Atrocities like this bring home a painful reality, but it is one we have to face up to in order to move forward: there are generous, luminous, enlightened human beings on this planet, luminaries who inspire us and show the way, but all too often, human affairs are savage and extremely unevolved.

Revenue from this horrendous practice will represent only a fraction of the fishermen’s livelihood. This practice simply would not exist without human arrogance and brutality, without ignorance of our extraordinary potential here on this planet.
Atrocities like this always result from a closing off of our potential, of the wealth of talent and resources that have always been available to us; they result from fear. They are a product of zero sum thinking, and are only possible through complicity of the false authority of governments and officials, in this case Canada’s Minister of International Trade, David Emerson.

To confront the reality of this barbaric practice is extremely upsetting and heartbreaking. You can find photos of this here, but please know they are profoundly heartbreaking. If you’re motivated to take action on this then you don’t need to look at photos or videos. If you feel you need to experience the reality of it in order to understand, then photos and videos have a definite purpose. The first thing to understand however, in confronting atrocity: you are not isolated, you are not alone. A dramatic illustration:

On 25 January 2007, the Belgian Parliament approved a ban on the trade in fur and other products (such as oil) originating from seals. An historic moment, since Belgium became the first EU country to impose such a ban. It was hoped to have a snowball effect: the more countries followed Belgium’s example, the more the markets for seal products would melt like snow in the sun.

This snowball effect has occurred: since September, the Netherlands no longer allow seal products into the country, and meanwhile, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom have also publicly stated that the trade which originates from the seal hunt must be stopped. This is a powerful signal to Canada, which still allows the cruel seal hunt.

http://wildlife-nannies.com/wildlife_community/story.php?id=155&PHPSESSID=6f35b4f68c5046ca974a426d2af4d5d1

Another article that details a possible ban on seal products by the European Union that could come as soon as June.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=b61ae675-cb1f-4589-9a6f-fe1107298b88&k=75579

Please consider joining us in signing the following petition regard the UK ban. If this ban goes through, it will virtually end the Canadian seal hunt, as there will be no market! You can sign from anywhere in the world:

http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/seal_trade_ban.html

I intend to continue to post links and resources that will help us reach people and take action. Governments and officials do not address atrocities on their own, but they do respond to popular pressure. The greater the groundswell of people, the more assured we can be that this ban will go through. Likewise, the greater our efforts and commitment to stopping this horrific attack on these beautiful, innocent creatures the more quickly we can get it done.

Atrocities like these inspire feelings of rage and a desire for revenge, and this is understandable and normal; we need not suppress those feelings. They are a step up from despair, so let them come. Let us direct that energy though, along with our compassion and our love for these beautiful, sentient creatures, to a solution. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to take a moment and contemplate these fishermen as no longer needing or wanting to club innocent seals to death for a few dollars. Contemplate the European Union ban as done, as passed. Then, talk about this

Please find links below to take action right now, and consider any talents you can offer to help these beautiful little guys.

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/trademinister_protectseals08?

https://community.hsus.org/humane/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=20706339

Tristan L. Sullivan