Way to make a statement, Morrissey! Apparently, the U.S.'s barbaric, aimless war in Iraq is not enough to keep you out of our country--ka-CHING!--but Canada earns your ire for seal slaughter. Hey, I like little animals as much as the next person, but does our country's war not rank slightly higher on the atrocities list? Not when real money's on the line, it doesn't!

I guess what I'm really asking is: what kind of animal do I have to kill to keep you out of the U.S.? How many of them do I have to kill in order to have you removed from my bar's jukebox? I'm willing to compromise my pacifist integrity in order to improve my quality of life.

Way to make a statement, Morrissey! Apparently, the U.S.'s barbaric, aimless war in Iraq is not enough to keep you out of our country--ka-CHING!--but Canada earns your ire for seal slaughter. Hey, I like little animals as much as the next person, but does our country's war not rank slightly higher on the atrocities list? Not when real money's on the line, it doesn't!

I guess what I'm really asking is: what kind of animal do I have to kill to keep you out of the U.S.? How many of them do I have to kill in order to have you removed from my bar's jukebox? I'm willing to compromise my pacifist integrity in order to improve my quality of life.

What a fucken tool...both morrisey and this idiot who posted above me.

What a fucken tool...both morrisey and this idiot who posted above me.

What the hell can morrissey say/do about the "war" that hasn't been said/done already? please. We know where Moz stands on animal cruelty, this isn't a shock. i personally, being vegan, love that he's doing this. no, it won't stop the clubbing, but at least he is trying to do something about it. Word!

I agree with Tim. Totally.

playing a show and making a statement at the show would have made more of a difference. He could have used the show to call on those against the hunt to be proactive. Not showing up? This will be forgotten soon, and I'm sure Canadians will survive without him.

Moz sticks it to America Junior. WHOO!

totally agreed, we all need to respect all creatures.

I totally agree with Blah #2.

I agree that he could have probably made more of an impact by playing shows there and talking about the issue to his audiences.

Hi Tim and Karen... I would very much like to hit both of you in the head with a spiked club. Would you enjoy that? Now please fuck off and die.

But please go vegan and be loving to all creatures before you fuck off and die.

As a Newfoundlander, the main area the seal hunt takes place, I feel it it is important to say that those white coats everybody likes to show have not been able to be hunted in over a decade. Also the seals are over populated and depleting the cod stocks in the area. People need to get the facts before they shoot off their mouth. I dont see anybody protesting the slaughter of cows or chickens in such a hardcore manner.

Morrissey is just another fantastic musician that sadly isn't in touch with reality and also a hypocrite. He's going to Norway which to this day still continues a seal hunt, and Canada sells its pelts to Finland, where he's also going.

Moz is a fraud.

"I dont see anybody protesting the slaughter of cows or chickens in such a hardcore manner."

I do...giving up meat is a protest against the slaughter of farm animals, and that takes more effort that just not going to Canada, so I would say it's at least as hardcore.

"Hi Tim and Karen... I would very much like to hit both of you in the head with a spiked club. Would you enjoy that? Now please fuck off and die."

Boy, I feel like Karen and I should get some support from Morrissey--we've got VEGANS telling us that we should be hit in the head with spiked clubs, fuck off and die! Morrissey, will you cancel your US shows so that Karen and I might live? It's unlikely to make a change in the savage policies of the readers' of this blog, but it is our only hope to be saved from the savage verbal slaughter of BV readers!

You're The One For Me,
Tim

Everytime I hear an animal activist using apples and oranges allegories to compare animal suffering to past human tragedies, it turns me off. 350k seals dying, compared to 8 million Jews and millions of other in WW2 doesn't compare, even at a one ot one human to seal life ratio. Stop with the stupid comparisons.

there is a food chain for a reason, and guess what we are at the top of it. i would like to slap all you vegan, preachy bastard in the face with a nice bloody steak. im a nutritionist and it is impossible to get all the nutriants you need on a vegan diet on its own. so it would appear as though we were intended to eat meat in order to complete our diet.
save a seal, kill a vegiterian.

there is a food chain for a reason, and guess what we are at the top of it. i would like to slap all you vegan, preachy bastards in the face with a nice bloody steak. im a nutritionist and it is impossible to get all the nutriants you need on a vegan diet on its own. so it would appear as though we were intended to eat meat in order to complete our diet.
save a seal, kill a vegiterian.

you might well be a nutritionist, but i suspect you'd be able to spell 'nutrients' or 'vegetarian' if you were any good at your job.

Sorry it turns you off, Reg. The 325,000 figure is just for this killing season. But if it bothers you so, we will stop. Nobody wants to upset you while you get the latest scoop on indie rockers.

But just so we know, for the future, so as not to upset you, what are smart comparisons? At what ratio would it compare? 2 to 1?

Thanks for the snark Aaron!
I just find it funny that to invoke sympathy, instead of letting the facts stand for themselves, everyone loves comparing to things they feel the audience would be more sympathetic to, throwing crazy altered stats, etc.

Him attempting to link it towards the holocaust was extra and un-needed, and in my opinion bad taste. If you like your comparions wild and crazy because 'You've got to get the message out by any means necessary' by all means, do you. But personally, I think it makes the message weaker, and dubious to say the least.

I agree with Reg. Comparisons to the Holocaust are tacky and offputting.

To be fair, the comparison was not made out of the blue, but as a comeback to the argument that baby seals must be killed because if they weren't, what would all the baby seal killers do?

I find that comparing animals to people turns off people who think they are better than animals. What is so wild and crazy about comparing people and animals? We all belong to the "Animal Kingdom." Can one compare the slaughter of cows to the slaughter of pigs?

Nobody is saying that the holocaust is unimportant. Quite the opposite. And the constant slaughter of animals is likewise important, and current.

I appreciate your concern about watering down the message, but it's unclear to me what you think that message should be. I believe the message gets weaker when you start to play political games, like lying to appease as many people as possible.

It doesn't matter what the context is, comparing seal clubbing to the Holocaust is disgusting. More people might have been sympathetic to the cause if it weren't for that tidbit of fanaticism tossed in at the end. Also, being rude and wishing death on people who disagree with you isn't very peaceful or respectful of life. I find it odd when some animal rights activists are so violent and blood thirsty.

It is amazing that so many people are willing to protest Canadians killing white coat seals like the one attached to the above article. It would be equally appropriate to protest the murder of whales off of Canada's coast since that has also been outlawed for a number of years. But then it is hardly as enraging to tell people that that it is only adult seals that are killed. It is not a very romantic to protest the production of veal either is it? The confinement of a calf in a 24 inche wide box in a dirty barn just doesn't seem to enrage people as much as the dillusioned idea that there may be little seals being killed on the prestine ice flows of Canada. Perhaps it would be better to protest a reality.

It is also easy to condemn a situation when you are so far removed from it isn't it? Lets put it a different way, lets say that the ice flows of Canada were located somewhere in the US. The animals hunted are plentiful, as plentiful and as ugly as say cattle. The killing of these animals employs your friends, your neighbours and your family. Do you think as many people would be willing to protest and comdemn that industry?

Morrissey's stance is uninformed and very inappropriate. His slander is a pitiful attempt to garner attention to his dwindle stardom, and he knows nothing about how the seal hunt works.

Why doesn't he pick a battle against the equally inhumane american beef industry? Or poultry industry? Or the inhumane foreign policies of the US government? BECAUSE HE'S NOT STUPID, HE HAS TO MAKE HIS MONEY FROM THE US. Hence why he picks on a small small regulated industry using fabricated lies about what actually happens during the seal hunt and sensationalist media bullshit from PETA, who themselves act as terrorist. People who know nothing about the seal hunt - come to newfoundland and I will show you that clubbing does not happen. it's all lies and media hype motivated by unknown factors.

What the fuck all you Canadians and non vegans are doing here? Where ever I go to anti-sealing sites those fucking bastards are there!!!!!!!!!
If you don't like our ideas and opinions than fuck off of OUR sites! Morons!! We are much more informed on the issue, than you will ever be! We know that you supposedly don't kill the whitecoats, but you still kill babies who got more than 14 days who still doesn't know to swim. And if you say that they are not babies open some book for the first time in your lives and you will discover that seals actually live more than 30 years, that if you don't club them in the head!!!
And for the cod fish, the scapegoat seals are not guilty, but industrial overfishing... Shame on you for everything in your miserable life you are blaming on seals!! Go and Fuck Yourself Murderers on the innocent, playful and intelligent eyes who are full of life, before you club them!!! Cowards!!!!!!!!!! Go and find someone your equal, who can club you back!!! You were cowards to go in Iraq, because there someone can hit you back!!! But the seal can club you back, the pups are so defenseless that even old gran can harm them!!!
And the holocaust comparaison are spot on!!!!
Way to go Morrissay, you've made many new fans!!!
The Barbarians will suffer, more than they think!

i think that it is very un- humain the way that they kill seals

i think that killing baby seals is wrong.

i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them.+

IT IS SO MEAN!!!!

i think that it is very un- humain the way that they kill seals

i think that killing baby seals is wrong.

i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them.+

IT IS SO MEAN!!!!

i think that it is very un- humain the way that they kill seals

i think that killing baby seals is wrong.

i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them.+

IT IS SO MEAN!!!!

i think that it is very un- humain the way that they kill seals

i think that killing baby seals is wrong.

i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them.+

IT IS SO MEAN!!!!

i think that it is very un- humain the way that they kill seals

i think that killing baby seals is wrong.

i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them.+

IT IS SO MEAN!!!!

i think that it is very un- humain the way that they kill seals

i think that killing baby seals is wrong.

i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them.+

IT IS SO MEAN!!!!

i think that it is very un- humain the way that they kill seals

i think that killing baby seals is wrong.

i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them.+

IT IS SO MEAN!!!!

i think that it is very un- humain the way that they kill seals

i think that killing baby seals is wrong.

i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them.+

IT IS SO MEAN!!!!

so you're not so into killing the baby seals, huh?

so you're not so into killing the baby seals, huh?

so you're not so into killing the baby seals, huh?

so you're not so into killing the baby seals, huh?

Anybody still paying attention out there? The hunts over here and the protestors have gone too. I hunt seals for meat. I get a license to shoot six of the the little buggers and it's illegal for me to sell the pelts.

The meat the commercial hunters leave behind is not "wasted" like half a Mcsomething that gets thrown in a land fill. Everything from Polar Bears to microscopic invertebrates feed off that. It's more like compost than city garbage.

All protestors I have personally spoken with cannot conceive of the notion that they could be wrong. It is a fanatacism only matched by hard core Bible Thumpers and maybe the people our countries are shooting at.

This is a clash of cultures more than anything else. Our impact on this planet is miniscule compared the industry that supports the urban consumer lifestyle. That is what I assume the basis of trouble is based on. However, the horror of being the top predator here is spectacular. All their killing is done in private and very few see the effects of synthetic material manufacture. Out of sight out of mind.

We've hunted seals centuries. Today's hunt is nothing compared to the early parts of the 1900's. The seals are abundant enough, but the quota is not. How do I know? I am here year around and watch them. It is a better management plan. The boom and bust cycles get evened out, you know, manipulating nature to achieve a sustainable environment for all.

Some have ridiculed the amount we make on the hunt. That is unfair. The hunt was still on a few years ago when the price was only $5.00 a pelt. Now they can go for up to $100.00. The people who earn this money are just barely scraping by as it is. Summing up knowing there's going to be food on the table and a few bucks left over after doing a dangerous and crappy job as blood lust; is ignorant. Higher prices are blessing to these family men.

As for seal tourism. That's nuts. Who would insure such an enterprise? Take Americans, who are not shy about suing for everything out on floating ice in the North Atlantic. There's about how bad things can go out there called DEATH ON THE ICE by Cassie Brown. That's seal hunting old school, dawg. Read that before you decide to get on the choppper.

POLAR BEARS. The only population that has been growing is the one around Labrador. As top four legged beast they should be getting scarce if our hunt is damaging the environment. Consumer gas guzzling will drown all that through global warming before we could ever damage it.

Getting killed sucks. Human, animal, or insect. The footage you see over and over are the few f@&k ups. The shock associated with being shot or clubbed would render a full grown man unconscious. Ask the muslims, we use the same ammo as the US and CDN. military, but we do not torture! (.223 cal.)

The protestors are wrong on this one. How do I know? Because if they were right, I would agree with them.

If you want to visit us in Newfoundland, come in August and September, the weather's nicer. To those who will never visit...I need to kill these things in order to be able to live here. And I will not leave my home because you disagree with what I chose to eat.

James

So what happens to the pelts of the seals you kill, James?

By the way, I can't fathom why Morrissey performed in Norway despite the fact that Norwegians continue to hunt whales in defiance of the ban by the whaling federation.

I leave them by the wharf. People with commercial permits take them or someting eats them.

I leave them by the wharf. People with commercial permits take them or someting eats them.

Just a quick note to the writer who's pissed their precious internet sites are being targeted by Canadians and seal hunt supporters.

Making us go away from your anti seal hunt propaganda is easy. Stay off our ice and our islands and we'll leave you alone.

This nonsense about the baby seals and not getting to enjoy their first swim shows your lack of understanding. Seals are much harder to kill in the water. I know, I've done it. Losses are higher and the amount of unrecovered wounded goes up. Also the fur is not as nice and the fat content changes in the blubber. And most importantly to me, the meat of the older animals is more fishy tasting.

No offense James, but by the same token I don't feel sorry for your pathetic "I need to kill these things in order to be able to live here". Cry me a river

Sorry, for seeming to lower myself to emotional rhetoric to explain my stance. What I meant by that is I shop for my groceries outdoors and very fresh. I grow my own vegetables and hunt for what I can legally take.
I don't raise animals for meat because I become attached to them and I can't let them roam free. Wild animals are different to me.
Health wise, well I'm not a fan of gen-mod plants or animals. I don't like the steriod and anti-biotic regime of factory farming. Any feed I'd buy for my own animals would be full of all that.
You don't get more free range than wild.
Then there's BSE (mad cow) and coming up close behind is the bird flu.
The same as other non-veg people cannot live where ever without chickens and cows being killed and delivered; I couldn't live here. It would be of no benefit without the game animals. I'd be just as well off or better diet wise by becoming an urban consumer.
I apologise for the misleading statement you pointed out.
Vegs. eat the way you do by choice. I chose to eat the meat I can harvest. The only difference to me between shooting mooose and shooting seals is I need a boat for the seals.

I'm amazed by people who would spend time, energy, and money to prevent me from doing that. It isn't an ecologically significant cause. What burns us the portrayal of us by these groups.
Newfoundland is the poorest province in Canada. It is a harsh place to live but it is full of the warmest most generous people you can ever find. On September 11, most of the planes ordered to land came here. Thousands and thousands American, Canadian, and European passengers. Whenever you fly to or from Europe we are the last thing you pass over. This island is like an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic.
The passengers were taken in by the locals for days. Families moved strangers into their homes until they could get home themselves. Not for ent or Room/Board, but out of compassion. Barbarians and savages, we are. Should have our skulls bashed in for being so heartless as noted from above.
I've seen the photos or clashes with sealers and all the other stuff. If you were to go in on any job site and carry on the way they do, you'd get the same reaction. They provoke and then get their money shot.
Thousands of animals harvested and we get film of the minority screw ups. At a $100.00 a pelt, they weren't left behind on purpose. What are the maiming records for the beef and poultry industry.
People who do not live among nature are the ones who wave the "let nature take of it" flag the hardest. Natures way is disease and stravation. Boom and Bust. Head explodes and your dead like Kennedy VS. you die like an Ethiopian or a cancer patient.
We do not want to annihilate the seals. We are about sustainable harvesting. No glutting the market and driving down the price. We are accused of being greedy it doesn't make economic sense to carry on the way we are portrayed.
The argument about seals destroying the fish. What destroyed the fish was fishing, the seals are a contributing factor. Culling the seal herd down too low has other problems as seals eat Halibut and other predatory fishes. The anti-sealing fact that seals do not eat cod fish is also bullshit. The basis of the argument is the lack of cod bones in seal feces. I've seen where seals have fed on cod, they like the big soft belly full of bait fish. The seals bite the stomachs out of the cod like that white coat went after Heather McCartney.(Check out the whole video when the little white coat snaps at her for trying to treat it like a house cat! Seals bite, remember that if you ever go out there.)
My final point today is about the hypocracy of the groups like the IFFAW, Greepeace, The Sea Shepherd Society. Claiming they are interested in preserving the Earth, protesting about our hunt. They first started coming here in the 70's and they still come for the seals. A fish stock that fed the world for centuries was overfished to next to extinction right under their noses! Newfoundlanders didn't destroy it, our main fisheries were inshore. Foreign and domestic trawlers raked the Grand Banks of fish and habitat. NONE OF THEM DID A DAMN THING TO STOP IT! One fisheries scientist compared the damage to leaving the Amazon Basin with only stumps.

"i think that killing baby seals is crule and you shoulnt kill the or insted of killing the baby seals with a bat thing you could kill them with a neadel or trankalise them."

Why should I listen to someone who can't spell at a grade 6 level? "crule"?, "a bat thing"? - it's called a hakapik (which, by the way, isn't used in Newfoundland, seals are shot), "neadel"?, I assume this should be "neadel"?, and what exactly does "trankalise" mean?

Morrisey can avoid Canada all he wants, we don't really care. Let him talk to Norwegians and Fins about sealing and see how far he gets. Maybe he should talk to politicians in Alaska as well, where seals are CULLED - not harvested, but culled, and yes, there is a difference.

If you want to know the truth behind the seal hunt (although James hit the nail right on the head) talk to someone who knows about it, not some person who is famous because they can act or sing. The majority of the people who oppose this hunt drive to work every day and probably dump a load of chemical pesticides on their lawns of non-native grass. All hypocrites, the whole bloody works. The majority of seal hunt protestors (Paul Watson included) eat meat as well, so they should shut their mouths about sealing until they close all abattoirs (which are slaughterhouses for those people who think "neadle" is spelled "neadel").

If you really care about helping seals (and I, for one, do - I am a professional marine mammalogist and I work on conservation issues related to seals and whales in the Canadian Arctic and North Atlantic), then stop driving SUVs and convince Dubya that climate change is real. Loss of sea ice, due mainly to American industry (but not only the US of course), will have a larger impact on pagophilic (ice-breeding) seals than a sustainable harvest ever will.

Most people who protest this hunt have no idea what really happens. The European pelt embargo in the 1980s had a massive negative impact on Inuit in the Canadian Arctic, but protestors can someone ignore this and other human dimensions of this debate. I've had the pleasure of working with Inuit people in the Canadian Arctic, and they are greatest people on earth. They speak about the seal hunt better than I can (even though I am both a Newfoundlander and a marine mammal scientist), so I will let them speak: A hunter from Arctic Bay (in Nunavut) asked me "How can they love a seal more than a person?". Great question, can anyone of you ignorant and misguided seal hunt protestors come up with an answer for this?

And, one last point, seals have pups, humans have babies. Anthropomorphising just confuses the issue and plays on people's heart strings.

"I hate The Smiths and Stephen Morrissey" - Ween

as a follow up, I spelled "needle" wrong on purpose, to see if anyone would use that for a response instead of trying to come up with a sensible argument of why we shouldn't harvest harp seals (there isn't one). I then decided it wasn't even worth giving people the option.

as a follow up, I spelled "needle" wrong on purpose, to see if anyone would use that for a response instead of trying to come up with a sensible argument of why we shouldn't harvest harp seals (there isn't one). I then decided it wasn't even worth giving people the option. So don't bother pointing it out.

"I hate The Smiths and Stephen Morrissey" - Ween

The whole "AR groups are fooling you into believing the whitecoats are killed" got old a very long time ago.

If you visit any AR or AW organization site, they will tell you quite clearly that the hunting of whitecoats was abolished in the late '80s due to markets for whitecoat pelts shutting down as a result of international outrage. We must be mindful, however, that the second that whitecoat begins molting - at about two weeks of age - it can be killed legally. There is the very real possibility that the "cute and cuddly" whitecoats shown in photos were clubbed to death a day or so after the photo was taken, when they began to lose their white coat. We must also be mindful that the harp seal reaches sexual maturity at 6 - 7 years of ago and has an average lifespan of 30 - 35 years. Given those figures, it is not incorrect or misleading to suggest that the vast majority of seals killed during the Canadian commercial seal slaugher - between the ages of 2 weeks and 3 months - are in fact pups. They are not adults. Recently weaned, as young as two weeks old, not yet eating solid food, not yet able to flee, swim or defend themselves, they are babies.

I maintain that it is the government and sealing supporters who are guilty of misleading the public, trying to convince us that a seal of two weeks of age is suddenly an adult just because it's lost a few white hairs. "But we don't kill the babies!" Yeah, right. Pull the other one - it's got bells on it.

As for Newfoundlanders relying on the seal slaughter to support their families...again a fiction. A multitude of employment alternatives have been put forth throughout the years, all of which have been dismissed by government and sealers alike, with no consideration. If times are so tough and sealers are "forced" to take part in the seal slaughter because of an absence of other employment opportunities, why have they rejected all alternatives suggested to them? Do they not want to learn a new trade or do they just enjoy killing things?

Seals are not responsible for the decimated cod stocks. That was a fiction created by DFO years ago to justify the slaughter. Even DFO admits now that it's not true. However, now they're blaming the seals for the cod's sluggish recovery. Again, this is a fiction created by the government. The seals are not the reason the cod stocks are not recovering quickly. We are killing our oceans and the fish are not bouncing back because of it. Besides, seals also eat natural predators to cod. If we kill all the seals (which is the true agenda of DFO), the cod will be no better off. The seals will be gone; the cod will be gone. There will be nothing left to kill. Then what will the fishermen/sealers do?

Canadian taxpayers subsidize the commercial seal slaughter. My tax dollars are paying for it. Not only am I vehemently opposed to the seal slaughter, but I am also offended that my tax dollars are funding a few hundred people making some quick cash during the off-season while they whine about how tough times are. I would much rather my tax dollars were spent on the promotion of new eco-tourism projects that would create more lucrative, secure and safer employment for ex-sealers.

Sealers in PEI have announced that they are interested in exploring alternatives to sealing. Why, then, are Newfoundlanders stubborning insisting there is nothing else they can do?

Dear Brigette,
What is this subsidy you speak of? I'd like to know about it. I hear protestors refer to it, but no hard facts. Please let me know if you have any. Better be the truth as well, I will check. I know there was some type in the past, but I'm unaware of one now.

Young seals are pups, not babies. But since you brought it up, let's bring that comparison further. When human "pups" are young you must be very careful with them because their skulls are soft and do not protect the brain from trauma. Seal babies are the same. Whacking it with a hakipik (which I do not use) or shooting them in the head is pretty much the end of the story.

Please read the comments I posted above. They address many of the issuses you raised. Especially on the eco-tourism side.

As for the impact of the hunt on the local economy, here's how it works now. People are employed in processing the pelts and oil. Not to a finished product, but beyond primary processing. These are jobs for people who aren't sealers. There are jobs in shipping the pelts and products. There is a local market for the meat. The impact is beyond the few quick bucks we whine for. I can't see tourism relacing that.
As George Orwell wrote "TOURISM TURNS A RACE OF PEOPLE INTO BEGGARS AND CURIO SELLERS"

Also what is the effect of buzzing nursing animals with helicopters and rubbing down the young with human scent? Has anyone checked that out or is it assumed the seals are happy with this? Most wild animals aren't too fussy about human smells and I'm pretty sure the seal mommies know their children by scent.

I know a few years ago some well intentioned but misguided "environmentalists" went out to the ice and painted the pups or babies, as you refer to them. They figured this would save the pups/babies by making their pelts only valuable to the seal itself. With no thought as to why the seals were white to start with(this was back in the time of the whitecoat hunt). They're white to hide them from their other natural predator, the polar bear. I'd imagine they were very disappointed to discover the green ones weren't lime flavoured.

As for the sealers in PEI, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. I'm kind of sick of taking the shit for them. They're the ones swinging the clubs that has everyone so pissed off. Yet we get the blame. I bet they would like to trade their miniscule quota for something else. The majority of the seals harvested annually are shot around this island. They're the ones with the least to lose and most to gain.

Seal hunting is a rough shift. That's why you have to approach this with your head not your heart. I wish the whole world survived on lettuce and sunshine, but it doesn't. The uproar and energry this creates would be better spent on more pressing issues. Like I said, All that stuff will drown because of global warming before we could ever wipe it out. Changing your lifestyle will have a more beneficial effect on the harps than banning me from eating them.

This about the swimming and defence you mentioned. Check out the whole video of Heather McCartney out on the ice and you'll see they're not the helpless babies you wish they were. It's absurdity ad nausem. 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years? What's the difference when it's dead?

Ready for a nicety at the end. I enjoyed your rebuttal. You may actually have an open mind to think with. You raise good points and don't get over-emotional.

As for me, let's get a few more facts in order
I'm self-employed and collect neither EI, welfare or some other mystery subsidy.

I'm literate, educated, and well read. Which really doesn't fit the stereotype of my people.

I am an environmentalist in the "live in nature and get to see how it works" fashion. Rather than being Fashionably Environmental.

And I am always up for reasoned debate.

Hi,
I've been observing your chat and felt I should make a few comments.
"Baby" seals aren't defenceless. They have a defence mechanism. They lay still frozen in fear to avoid predators. Like opposums and deer fawns. Camo (white on white) is the other part of it.
The other item is seal tourism. The Marine Mammals Act prohibits people from coming within a 100 meters of any marine mammal. Whale watching is different because the whales may come to you for interaction. That's legal. Unless the seals come over to you it is possible to be charged under the Act. It's harrasment of wildlife otherwise.
I know it seems a little silly in comparison to be able to kill them during the hunt, but that's the law of the land. Basically, everyone who has had their photo taken with a seal could be charged. The same as hunters can shoot deer, but you can't go in the woods and harrass them.
Knowing the pups stick around because they're scared out of their mind until they realize I'm not going to turn them inside out. Kind of takes the glow of wanting to go out and see them. Having to observe them from 300 hundred feet away makes it pointless.
I don't understand the tenacity of both side of this issue, but the seal hunters seem more civilised than the protesters. The photos of the sealers threatening people even look set up. To be fair, I aslo don't believe every last seal dies painlessly. However, knowing Newfoundlanders I can't imagine them brutalizing animals. Newfoundlanders are hard asses, but not the type of people to torture animals for sport.

Just like I figured, the protestors have lost their fire again. Must be the weather or something else shiny that has their attention now.

Why not pick a real cause that can keep you pissed off all year?

Your war in the Middle East is a good one. Global Warming/Climate Change? Or do you just protest things that don't have effect on your own life and well being?

You should all be ashamed of yourselves for being so shallow.

Hi,
I am a proud Newfoundlander who became interested in the politics of the seal hunt because my husband firmly supports it. I love all animals and find it very sad when anything is hurt. Being born and bred in outport Newfoundland I also know the facts about the seal hunt and I know some of the families that rely on the income from it...even from all this I wasn't quite sure if I supported it myself, so I did some research and starting browsing through random forums to get some information. What I found was that i do indeed support the seal hunt, I believe that the law requires these hunters to kill the seal in the most humane way possible...with guns...NOT CLUBS! There is a market for the pelt, the oil, and the CARCASS. What surprises me most though about what I found out, comes from browsing the forums..NOT ONCE did I find a violent posting by a seal hunt supporter, but the postings from those who did not support the seal hunt were sometimes extremly violent. These people do not eat meat because they think it is cruel to kill an animal, but they behave in such a radical way.I have read postings in which a man hoped that cars would crash into Newfoundlanders killing them and their children..I have read postings in which radical vegans were hoping PEOPLE would be clubbed in the head and die. I have heard seal hunters be called "salvages" and "barbarians", by the people who wish them death...I really think that I found out who the barbarians and salvages are!

Hi,
I am a proud Newfoundlander who became interested in the politics of the seal hunt because my husband firmly supports it. I love all animals and find it very sad when anything is hurt. Being born and bred in outport Newfoundland I also know the facts about the seal hunt and I know some of the families that rely on the income from it...even from all this I wasn't quite sure if I supported it myself, so I did some research and starting browsing through random forums to get some information. What I found was that i do indeed support the seal hunt, I believe that the law requires these hunters to kill the seal in the most humane way possible...with guns...NOT CLUBS! There is a market for the pelt, the oil, and the CARCASS. What surprises me most though about what I found out, comes from browsing the forums..NOT ONCE did I find a violent posting by a seal hunt supporter, but the postings from those who did not support the seal hunt were sometimes extremly violent. These people do not eat meat because they think it is cruel to kill an animal, but they behave in such a radical way.I have read postings in which a man hoped that cars would crash into Newfoundlanders killing them and their children..I have read postings in which radical vegans were hoping PEOPLE would be clubbed in the head and die. I have heard seal hunters be called "salvages" and "barbarians", by the people who wish them death...I really think that I found out who the barbarians and salvages are!

Seems like the zest is gone out of the anti-sealing puppets.
Maybe they've found out that
(1.) Seals ARE NOT endangered!

and

(2.) Seals ARE NOT skinned alive!

Maybe they've moved on to a really worthwhile global issue.
Or maybe there’s something more superficial for them to be occupied with.

It’s too bad the "In" thing to do this past spring was jumping onto the "Save the Seals" band wagon.
Many of whom don't understand the first thing about seals or the hunt.
They are conned out of their money by the tear-jerking whitecoat images prostituted by so-called animal rights organizations and are persuaded to show support by boycotting Canadian sea foods and other hare-brained schemes so as to make them feel as though they where truly doing something useful on this earth.

Maybe when you live in a part of the world where the average person uses four times the resources of those in not so well-to-do countries this “Save the Seals” crap is a great mender of guilty consciences.
Seems like a great market to tap into doesn’t it?

Ironically, if I where to post my e-mail on this or any other forum I would have more than a few so-called animal rights people threaten and wish harm on me. Even though I am a humane person towards animals and I do support the seal hunt.

In the Province of Newfoundland/Labrador the EI program requires that the minimum anual family income must not exceed 20,000 - 30,000 dollars per household. In 2006, the EI program required a person to work 420 hours (not exceeding an anual family income of $30,000). If the total hours is not meet, then the person would be required to work 910 hours in 2007. So, between a small family of 2 people they must work 840 hours but not make more than 30,000 dollars. Yes, most people would say than work full time all year round, but keep in mind that the minimun wage is $6.75 for adults. At minimun wage, the people of this province are living of $1080.00 per month. They still pay just as much money for housing and hydro. They still have the same bills as you and I. So after paying your rent, hydro, cable, telephone bills how much money do you have left over for food when you start with $1080.
Many Newfie/Labradorians rely on seal meat as a main diet to feed their families. Not only do they eat seal to survive but also wild duck, turr, moose and carribou. So when you go to the store and buy your pork, lamb, beef and VEAL (which is in fact BABY cow) take note of how much you spent on these things. Is it that hard to believe that substituting these meats for wild ones is a necessity for some, rather than a barbaric act. Perhaps, you don't even eat meat. You think the killing of ANY animal is barbaric. You, with your vitamin supplements and your soy milk. Go down to a small town in Labrador. Look for soy milk and green salads. You'll be more likely to find carrots, cabbage, potatoes and turnip, because those are the only vegetables you will find. They don't have the luxury of vegetarian friendly groceries. So, personally people I think you should cut these "archaic, barbarians" some slack, they don't have much but they do a damn good job with what they do have!
I would like to inform you that it is absolutely Illegal to kill a baby seal. The cute white coat that you see in the magazines are taken by animal activists who are trying to promote their campaign. It is also illegal to skin a seal alive. Not only is this act illegal but nearly impossible! A seal easily outweighs a human, and seals are extreamly aggressive. They are not going to lie there 'crying' as you put it, while a person skins them alive. They are preditors of the sea.
There is however 'one' case where these animal activist leaf lickers did film a 'baby' seal being slaughtered and skinned alive. They had one of their own people tranquilize the seal, and then payed a man $5000 to club and skin the seal while it was still breathing. So what kind of people are you defending here.
i would like to say that I do not, have not and never intend to hunt seals.'I' am lucky enough to live in a province that supports my survival. But I'm not going to sit on my high horse and look down my nose at those less fortunate than me.

have you ever been to a slaughter house? For beef I mean. You should go, you'd be surprised at how much blood gets around when animals are being slaughtered. Those poor animals, some of them never see the light of day. You see, it makes the meat more tender when they don't move around to much.
My point is, the blood it's everywhere! Horrifying! I mean, sometimes, it's hard to tell because it all soaks into the dirt and stuff. But there's still alot of it. I thought to myself, just to get a better idea, what if dirt "white" this would absolutely terrify me! Oh.... wait a minute, snow is white. Yes, I could see how this my concern you now. Well, maybe if they could just turn all the pretty white snow flakes into brown dirt you wouldn't be so disturbed.
Newborn pups are about 85 cm long, weigh about 11 kg and are yellowish in colour. In about 3 days the fur turns to a fluffy white from which the pups derive the name "whitecoats". Young harp seals rank among the fastest growing and most precocious of young mammals. They are nursed for about 12 days and then abandoned by their mothers. During this period they more than triple their weight on milk which contains up to 45% fat (compared to 4% for cow's milk). When weaned, pups weigh an average of 35 kg. More than half of this weight is fat in the form of blubber.

After the pups are abandoned by their mothers, they begin to lose weight and to moult their white coats. Partially moulted pups are called "ragged jackets". After about 18 days this coat is completely shed and is replaced with a short silvery one, flecked with small dark spots along each side and sparsely flecked on the back. The pups are now young adults called "beaters".
Ipsos Reid poll

Fisheries Department has armed itself with a $5,000 poll that suggests the majority of Canadians support the hunt.
The Ipsos-Reid poll, completed in February, found 60 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they supported to some degree Ottawa's current policy on the annual hunt.

The telephone survey found 22 per cent of respondents strongly agreed with the federal policy and 38 per cent somewhat agreed, while 23 per cent strongly disagreed and 16 per cent somewhat disagreed.
I think you will find that in The eastern and northern provinces, people are more likely to support the hunt. In the western provinces majority of people will be opposed to it and that in the Interior Provinces, majority of people are either undecided or don't give it much thought. But don't take my word for it. Just read the press releases, that's where all of your other information come from.

I must say, I love the role model's you animal activist choose as the faces of you cause

Brigitte Bardot - Racist, fined for inciting racial hatred after attacking gays, Muslims in her book

Pamela Anderson – Porn Star

Paul McCartney – Drug addict

Heather Mills – Hooker

Hmmm, Jamie some peoples minds will never be changed - fair enough.

Recently Moz has moved from the US due mainly, I have read, to it's sickening politics, no offence to the US public intended. Please take note he didn't choose to return to his (& my) homeland either!
He appears to have fallen for Rome big time.
But he's speaking out at live venues against Ms C.Rice and co. still. Thank goodness someone does.
Canada's seals are murdered for their skins and probably because they eat too much of what is instinctive for them to consume...fish! The Canadian government also allows the continuing murder of black bears for Queen Elizabeth II's guards busbys, one bear is needed per hat...how sick is that! Atleast an attempt has been made to ban traditional blood sports in the UK, we've got to tackle horse racing, dog racing etc now.

P.S. Moz has been alerting fans to horrors of seal culling since the 'Interesting Drug' video, released 1990.

what the hell is up with this seal protesting crap? Why did Morrissey not boycott his Canadian dates ever before? I saw perform in Hamilton Ontario, Canada six years ago! Did he just suddenly discover what the whole world knew for hundreds of years? Why not boycott Europe, Asia, and every other continent and country as well? I'm sure there's got to be some animal killing going on everwhere in the world. He's kicking off his tour in the U.S - great maybe while he's there he could look into some of the million poverty stricken neighbourhoods and cities the the U.S Goverment is allowing to exist. He needs to get on this. How will these people ever be able to purchase a Mozzer CD in their situation. Human cruelty is important too isn't it? yep, I say boycott the States and any other country where people eat hamburgers and chicken wings while they send their countrymen off to the Middle East as soldiears to (almost daily) be involved in fire fights and "accidentaly killing young women and children" give me a break , why don't you just come to Canada and create awareness instead of uneccessarily punishing some of the most loyal fans and most kind,compassionate people loving people in our world??!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi there:

As you may or may not be aware here In Canada we have the yearly seal hunt that takes place which to me Is very Inhumane as well as uncalled for, all this In the name of money, many others feel this way as well, I currently have a petition In circulation and the object of this Is to gather more than a million signatures so there Is much public pressure therefore putting an end to this horrible act of cruelty, In having said that It Is very Important that my petition be sent out to as many people as possible that oppose this disgraceful horrible act and In aiding to do this I am personally asking for your help hopefully It be yourself signing my petition and forwarding on to others and If possible to add me to your website or webpage for more added signatures.

I thank you In advance for your time, consideration and support In this matter and hopefully together we can end this terrible act of cruelty for good please circulate this petition click on the link at the bottom If you wish to add your name first and last and any comments that you may have thank you.

Best Regards,

Elaine

Email: barbarasmith215@hotmail.com

Please go to this web page If you wish to support a worthy cause and please pass on to everyone you know

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/yearlyhunt

Hi there:

As you may or may not be aware here In Canada we have the yearly seal hunt that takes place which to me Is very Inhumane as well as uncalled for, all this In the name of money, many others feel this way as well, I currently have a petition In circulation and the object of this Is to gather more than a million signatures so there Is much public pressure therefore putting an end to this horrible act of cruelty, In having said that It Is very Important that my petition be sent out to as many people as possible that oppose this disgraceful horrible act and In aiding to do this I am personally asking for your help hopefully It be yourself signing my petition and forwarding on to others and If possible to add me to your website or webpage for more added signatures.

I thank you In advance for your time, consideration and support In this matter and hopefully together we can end this terrible act of cruelty for good please circulate this petition click on the link at the bottom If you wish to add your name first and last and any comments that you may have thank you.

Best Regards,

Elaine

Email: barbarasmith215@hotmail.com

Please go to this web page If you wish to support a worthy cause and please pass on to everyone you know

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/yearlyhunt

I feel that someone should just put bombs on the boats and kill the bastards!! Did anyone see the pictures of those fishermen, they looked like they were bred from incest and civilization would definitely be better off without them.

Hi, I am from Newfoundland. And I do agree with Morrissey I always have. I am against the seal hunt, while many locals here are for it. Becuase I can say that many people here especially the elders do not have much respect for animals, heck even people for that matter. So everyone here is for it, but I feel that they could be just nieve. But, these people, the seal hunters, they make about $7000 Canadian a year without exaggeration, some may have other jobs but many just have their seal hunting. Now, I fully understand that there are many seals and we could keep slughtering them without endangering them, and we do not club seals they are shot.This is the excuse many Newfoundlanders will give you. But to kill so many seal every year, it's quite absurd. They call it a humane way, look shooting may be a big step down from clubbing, but it doesen't make it humane.
I don't feel Canada should really pay for having such a government. Because really Newfoundland, sad to say isn't even really Canada, we only joined Canada around fifty years ago. Many people of Newfoundland don't care much for Canada. I mean we do need Canada they do a lot for us. But with somethings people aren't too happy about.

wtf.

Oh i'm bored.
What should we do?
Let's make a sport to kill baby seals!!!
Sounds good to me!

I fucking hate all this shit.

i think something needs to be done about the human population. no one ever dares to say it, but humans are out of control. everyone me keeps saying there are too many deer, the deer are over populating and its a problem because they run into traffic and fuck up peoples cars. but whats really going on is there is no more forest. they have no where to go but the streets. and they get hit. humans need to wise up to the FACT that this planet can only support so much life, and we are reaching maximum human population. at some point there needs to be a serious reduction in humans. i dont want to die, but if you really look at whats going on from a step back there is no difference between mold and humans. when you look at a city as you are flying in you don't see all the people with their goals hopes and dreams, children, homes, whatever, you see a city. same thing with a pile of mold on bread. you don't look at each spore with their traits, eventually the mold if left alone will eat the bread and die, unless it colonizes another host, and believe me the plans are in the works.steven hawkin once said that humans will not survive the next century unless we scatter into space and colonize other earths. i believe this to be true. humans NEED to learn how to live balanced with the world around them or else we will suffer a terrible fate, a future where humans eat human flesh to stay alive and the air is toxic to breath, polar ice caps and sea creatures will be story's of the old days for the children of the future. that does not mean hat humans need to stop eating meat, just eat a lot less, too bad we wont change, i mean every day we become more immune to death. think about it, we need AIDS and Cancer and birth defects, we need people to die. i don't want to get AIDS or Cancer but other then human on human murder or accidental death there is nothing to stop me from growing old and consume the earth as as i grow. $0.02

Soilent Green - yuck!!

I CAN NOT BELIEVE ANY1 HU WOULD WANT A PART IN THIS HORRIBLE HORRIBLE SPORT WAT HAVE THEY DONE TO US HUH?
WE HAVE NO BLOUDY RITE TO KILL THEM THEY DONT EAT THEM MY MOTTO IS TO ONLY KILL WAT U NEED BUT IT IS NO ECUSE TO WAT THEY R DOING
MY FRIENDS SENT ME PICTURES TODAY AND I A CRYING TO WAT THEY ARE DOIN!

SAVE THE SEALS!!!!!!!!!!!!

all you people who say moz is stupid for doing this, i'd like to see if you have the balls to kill an innoncent baby seal. i'm sure more people would rather put a shotgun to your head instead.