Israelis rally against Canada seal slaughter
(VIDEO) Animal rights activists demonstrate outside Canadian Embassy in south Tel Aviv to protest slaughter of seals on beaches of Newfoundland, Labrador provinces. Protest part of International Day of Action for the Seals, organized by American group. Paul McCartney says during visit with wife Heather Mills to Gulf of St. Lawrence, Nova Scotia ‘Plenty of things have been going on for a long time, like slavery. Just because it's been going on for a long time doesn't make it right’
VIDEO - Animal rights activists held a demonstration Wednesday outside the Canadian Embassy in south Tel Aviv to protest the slaughtering of seals on the beaches of the Newfoundland and Labrador provinces, where the largest commercial seal hunt began in 2003.
Video: Reuters
The demonstration was part of the International Day of Action for the Seals, organized by the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, marked by animal rights groups at Canadian embassies and consulates all over the world.
American animal rights groups are calling for the boycotting of the “Red Lobster” seafood restaurant chain for importing Canadian food products.
The killing of the seals is unsupervised and cruel, as hunters pierce their prey with boat hooks or hit them on the head with clubs so as not to damage their fur, activists said.
According to animal rights groups, 95 percent of all slaughtered seals in Canada are pups, as they easier to hunt due to their inability to swim. In many cases the mothers are killed while the pups are left to die of starvation, they said, adding that some 40 percent of the hunted seals are skinned while still alive.
'Seals left to bleed to death on the ice'
According to statistics presented by activists the number of seals slaughtered in Canada since 2003 exceeds 600,000.
The Canadian government claims seal hunting contributes to the economic revitalization of the country’s northern region, but animal rights activists say such considerations are no excuse for turning a blind eye to the cruel treatment of seals.
“This is no excuse; the Canadian government is looking out for its economic interests with blatant disregard for the suffering of hundreds of thousands of seals, who are left to bleed to death on the ice,” said Alona Haruvi, an Israeli animal rights activist.
About two weeks ago rock icon Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills, both veteran animal rights activists, visited the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Nova Scotia to protest the seal slaughter.
When informed that residents have been hunting seals for hundreds of years, McCartney said “Well, in our view, that doesn't make it justifiable.”
"Plenty of things have been going on for a long time, like slavery. Just because it's been going on for a long time doesn't make it right," the former Beatle said.
