A protest group from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare brought their message of stopping the Canadian seal hunt into the downtown streets of Vancouver today – to coincide with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.  Sparky, the PETA 40-foot inflatable seal, made an appearance along with the demonstrators.
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper had fighting words on Tuesday for critics of Canada’s seal hunt, accusing European countries and others of unfairly discriminating against the industry.  Speaking in Iqaluit on, Harper defended the seal hunt, which recently became the subject of a trade ban by the European Union.  Late last month, the EU banned the import of seal products from Canada and other sealing nations. The ban is expected to take effect in all 27 EU member countries in October.
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Animal welfare activists have found themselves an unlikely ally in the form of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.  The judo-loving former KGB officer showed his cuddlier side when he leapt to the defence of the country’s baby harp seal population, labelling the annual hunt of the animals a “bloody industry†that “should have been banned a long time ago.â€
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For some Canadian politicians, courage from their conviction seems to appear only when they are relegated to the opposition benches.  In this version of As the World Turns, Mac Harb, a Chretien loyalist who was made a Senator after a stint on the Liberal side of the House of Commons, plans to introduce legislation calling for a ban on the controversial commercial seal hunt in Canada.
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A Newfoundland author claims she is being censored after the province’s largest local book distributor refused to stock her children’s book because of its critical portrayal of the seal hunt.  Littleseal, written by Morgan Pumphrey, tells the tale of a harp seal pup born on the ice floes off northern Newfoundland.  During the first three weeks of his life, Littleseal survives encounters with an ecotourist and a hungry polar bear, as well as separation from its mother. But he’s killed after a “blinding, crunching, thud” at the hands of a seal hunter wielding a hakapik.
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The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will be billing the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans $1,000.00 per day for every day that the Farley Mowat is unlawfully held by the department.
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