I can't even begin to understand how someone could kill another living creature in such a cold way. How unfortunate for the animals that we are stronger than they are and instead of using our power to help we only kill and destroy. People shouldn't sit quietly at home and say 'how sad but what can we do?!'- they should get up and make a difference and come to the protest.

To any and all who may read this. Most people who protest the seal hunt seems to me to know very little about what is accually happening. Mostly what you hear i s from those money making groups who are at it just to make money. They still make public, photos and video that was taken many years ago before there were many rules and regulations concerning the hunt. They even show pics. of peole killing whitecoats. this was banned , and the rules obeyed, years ago. It seems that everyone , and mostly those who are far removed from the area in question, just jumps on the band-wagon for sensationalism.. People can be brainwashed very easily , and for the wrong reasons, as can be seen from history. In this situation, the seals are used for food,medicine and clothing, and in lotsof cases the hunt means the matter of life or death. but you people who are far removed from the scene,geographically, culturally and information wise, that you don't know what you are protesting against. Do i hear you protesting the seal hunt in other countries where the seals are just killed for the sake of killing;do I hear a protest against the running of the bulls; do I hear a protest against the fox hunt; do I hear a protest against slaughter of human beings by terrotists in Iraq or Afganistan? HARDLY! CLEAN UP YOUR OWM MESS. Also, you have no idea about how many seals there are, and how fast they have been multiplying since you guys have started your silly game. You alos don't seem to realize how devastating the multitude of seals are to the cod and other fish supplies. Why are you so one-sided? It must be the money and the propaganda that you can use to sensatioalize this whole pitiful sceme.

Paul Stone. A lot of us are as well read as we can be on the Seal Hunt considering The government of Canada Is pretty much a Dictatorship and allows very little to no press on the Seal Hunt Period! As far as clothing goes, no one wears fur anymore, just the ignorant. Food, it is well known that this Slaughter is for the Seal Pelts only , and for a few European Designers (Versace, Prada, Birger Christensen) Not a lot of people can actually afford to shop here. Your actullay carrying out the dirty work for them, as you get $15.OO a pelt , which they conviently make Thousands of dollars. Who is stupid now? Penisus, well now the Asians will eat/consume anything won't they. Someone needs to tell them about Viagra, I hope they find out about it. Dietary Supplements, Have you been to a Drug Store Lately, there are millions of supplements out there and none are proven to do anything and cost a lot of money , here again we don't need anything from the Seals. And again the Pharmacutical Industry makes all the bucks while you are out there doing all the dirty work in the cold for $15.00. Seem unbalanced in the money trail, well it is and very much to the Fishermans demise. The Fisherman are the true people that have been failed by this Government. It is their total Mismanagement of the fishing Industry that has lead Skilled, Talented Fisherman into this Deplorable, Inescapable position to have to go out every year and Club Seals To Death for the Government of Canada. I am a Canadian, and part MicMac Indian, My relatives still live in the Maritimes and are ashamed of the Government and this Hunt. 90% of Canadians are against the Slaughter. I have never heard any of my fellow Canadians say when I grow up "I am going to be a Sealer and club Baby Seals to death, skin them alive against all condemnation. What is the word Humane? There is nothing Humane about the Seal Hunt , "club and skin"an animal. How does that sound to you? All of this for a pitance of 16. million dollars with only 2% actually going to the fisherman and there families. Absurd, Ridiculous, The People in the Maritimes are getting Screwed hard by this Government. Think about it carefully. Mary Bastien

Anyone who has ever come into contact with the Canadian Embassy in tel aviv will know that thye will turn in, close ranks and never admit that there is anything negative about their country. The demonstration will be ignored and the only disruption that will be noticed is that the employees will go for lunch early or bring sandwiches to avoid the chaos. Good luck - I will be there to add to the numbers, but the Canadians will never admit to anything being wrong within their country.

There is more that can be done to stop these cold blooded sadistic murders. Check out: care2.com This is a website for people who are committed to wonderful causes, amongst them, petitions against cruelty to animals. You can join for free and become a member, and have access to loads of information about saving what is left of the environment, plus can contact others who are like-minded. I myself have signed many petitions, one for the seals as well, and have donated money. Let's try and make our world a saner place, every little bit counts. I am proud that Israelis are aware and doing something.

Thank you for reporting this story, this atrocity is getting enough coverage.

"...in lots of cases the hunt means the matter of life or death." 1) Mr. Stone, there are millions of ways to earn a decent living in this world without resorting to this brutality, especially in an industrialized country such as Canada. 2) There is no 'life or death' need for these pelts, retailers like the Burlington Coat Factory are chockablock with isle after isle of coats and suitable alternatives. 3) Your cry of 'culture' ranks right up there with the Deep South's culture of slavery and the Aztec's old time heritage of tossing virgins into volcanoes. 4) Have the seals been packing boat-loads of cod into freezers, or has it been others who have been depleting the cod stock? 5) $15 a pelt, is that all you folks get? Mary is right, you are stupid! Dupe! ;-) I'm appalled at the utter disregard some have for life, and the half-wits who try to justify it. I work with wildlife rehabbers who SPEND THEIR OWN MONEY to help injured wildlife, whereas others do the exact opposite by harming wildlife for money. Good vs. Evil, the struggle goes on.

You guys really need to get your head out of your ass and start really reading and not taking everything you see on tv and read in hack newspapers as fact. - $15? Where did you find this? A seal pelt goes for at least $70 each now. At least, probably more, and these sealers are making around $10,000 in a 2 or 3 week period. That can account for around a 1/3 of a fishermans income. Yes, 16 million seems like a drop in the bucket compared to what the overall fishery makes. But 30-40% of a persons income when you look at the stats another way is far from a drop in the bucket. - I am Canadian to, and my girlfriend is of Inuit desent, and her family have been hunting seals for centuries, and have used all of the seal. - Omega-3 capsules are all natural suppllements taken from seal oil, and provide healthy alternatives for sythetic medicines for arthritis and a number of other illnesses. - The government of Canada is a dictatorship and allows very little to no press of the seal hunt? How the hell do you think you hear about it? There are a bunch of other countries that have seal hunts; Russia, Denmark, Greenland, Namibia, the USA. Do you hear about these? No. Do you know why? Because these countries do ban the press from covering their seal hunts. Canada is the only countries that allow the press and protestors close to their hunt. - 90% of Canadians are not against the seal hunt. A 2005 Ipsos-Reid Poll (an independent polling group), polled Canadians and found that a majority of the country supports a reponsible seal hunt; responsible meaning, conservation wise, and humanely. - Did you know that 90% of seals are shot, and only 10% are killed traditionally using the hakapik, or club? And did you know that a number of independent commissions and studies such as the Canadian Veterinarians group (not positive of their name), and commission and studies from outside of Canada have also found the hakapik to be just as humane as other methods of killing found in commercial slaughterhouses, such as pig and cow slaughterhouses. It kills quickly and effectively. - I really think you need to get the facts, and another thing, this whole article was written by hack journalists. The numbers they provided with regards to this years quota were wrong; also, they said this year was the 2nd year of the three year plan which is totally wrong. - They made mistakes in numbers that would get people fired at some publications. - Again, $15.00? Where did you find this? Did you just make this up? - Did you also know that the HSUS, who is the main organizers of the protest here had a list of restautants that they claim are boycotting Canadian sea food, and costing Canada millions and millions of dollars. And did you know that last week, a consumer group contacted the businesses on this list and found that somewhere aroujnd 75% of those on the list, had no idea they were included. So in fact, the HSUS, the group leading this charge, and the group also being investigated by the FBI as a terrorist group, intentionally mislead the public to follow their campaign. - Makes you wonder what else they are doing and lying about, and what their real intentions are. - Makes you wonder about all animal rights groups.

Your response takes into account none of the points made in the previous posts, other than to quibble over the exact dollar figure for a pelt, the accuracy of which I had questioned myself. But irregardless, the dollar amount is irrelevant: at what price would it be acceptable to bludgeon your girlfriend or mother, Mr. Knott? $15, $1,000, $10 million? For you, there may be no acceptable amount, but how about for others who are not as emotionally attached to your girlfriend and mother? And what if they needed the money to sustain themselves, would it be okay then? “I am Canadian to, and my girlfriend is of Inuit desent, and her family have been hunting seals for centuries” And are they also doing all their traveling by foot, as they did centuries ago? Have they forsaken modern medicine, indoor plumbing, and electric lights too? And has the bulk of the killing been committed by Inuits for their own sustenance? “Did you know that 90% of seals are shot, and only 10% are killed traditionally using the hakapik, or club? “ Glad they’ve adopted a more “humane” way to kill (did they do this because of public pressure?) But the photos I’ve seen on Yahoo (March 2006 photos) tell another story. “Omega-3 capsules are all natural suppllements taken from seal oil, and provide healthy alternatives for sythetic medicines for arthritis and a number of other illnes” And aphrodisiacs, let’s not forget that! I’ve seen this list before, many of the so-called benefits either have substitutes that really works (like Viagra) or have been totally disproved in clinical studies. “HSUS, the group leading this charge, and the group also being investigated by the FBI as a terrorist group” My response: http://tinyurl.com/amxpv And your other points have been countered in previous posts, but you appear blind to them, and your trite reference to human anatomy shows the level of intellect we are dealing with here. As I state earlier, I have worked with wildlife rehabbers -- often women over the age of 50 -- who risk personally injury to HELP suffering beings. I can’t seen any of these manly seal hunters reaching into a cage of wild raccoons and extracting one with no more protection than a hand towel -- a skill developed over time and at the cost of incurring many scratches and bites. So you see, the hunters are really little more than cowardly bullies with an anything-for-a- buck mentality and only the skill to level a gun and pull a trigger -- an upgrade, according to you, from wielding a club. And we know that none of them would engage in these hunts if the seals had a sporting chance, if the seals could fire back. Cowards and lightweights.

Anybody that could possibly not be disguested and sick to to the stomach, and being able to sleep at night, knowing what is going on in Canada, brutally killing baby seals must be a total idiot and worse than the Gestapo.. Please, boycott everything Canadian.

My dear Mr. Bently, - I responded to all of your points. You made a big deal that sealers were idiots for killing seals for $15., when it is well known the price of pelts is way more then this. - No, people did not bow to public pressure to shoot the animals, from accounts I have heard it was some sealers themsleves that made this choice. I have met sealers that have hunted for decades and have never clubbed a seal. - And photos? What do you think a animal rights group would accomplish if it gave a fair interrpretation of the hunt? The don't deny that most animals are shot, they just don't tell you that because it dosent help their argument. You only ever see clubbing in pictures (which can easily lie), because unfortunately this makes a better photo op. - Yes, there are synthetic substitutes to natural medicines. But I would rather have a natural alternative, then to keep shoving synthetic man made medicines in my body. That is the same reason, I eat seal meat, moose, and caribou, because these animals havent been pumped full of steroids, hormones and the like. - Anything-for-a-bucj mentality? These sealers are working to provide an income for their families, in a very job strapped area. This isn't an extra for the sealers. When this can account for up to a third of the sealers income, this isnt greed, or extra for them, its life for them. - No, my girlfriend dosent walk everywhere by foot. She drives her car. She grew up in the city. She works in a hospital. But many inuit still do live in poverty and squalor. Many still do not live differently then they did years ago. Yes they have electricity, running water. But many still live off of the land, and seal is still one of their main sources of sustenance, and also provides a very important economic boost to a very poor area. The inuit use the income they receive from the seal pelts. - Why try to destroy a prefectly viable, sustanable, humane industry? - No, you are mistaken Mr. Bentley, I did counter all of your arguments. Most of my arguments were already countered? They were countered by opinion and ignorance to the facts. - You have not responded to most of my comments. Why are you not replying to the fact that other countries carry on a seal hunt like ours, and they allow the killing of whitecoat seals. Canada is the only country that has banned that practice. - Also, what about the fact that the article above was full of factual mistakes. Such as saying that this years quota is 350,000, when it is actually 325,000. Or saying that this year is the second year of a three year plan, when it is actually the thrid year of the three year plan. These may seem like small mistakes, but in reporting, small mistakes are close to lying, and they really need to be more careful. Mistakes like that could cost a reporter their job in other places. - And what about the fact that the HSUS was caught in a huge lie? Their list of restaurants not supporting Canadian restaurants was proven to be almost all false. Most of the restaurants and people on that list had no idea they wre included on the list. Many still served Canadian sea food as well. This was a point on which they based a lot of their argument, but still people blindly floow them. - No sir, you are the one being blind. You are only reading and seeing what you want to see. That is a sign of very-low brow intelligence. You are not looking at the other side of the argument. You see pictures of white coat seals being clubbed, which is illegal in Canada, and has been since 1987, and thats all you see, and this causes an emotional response in you. You are being sucked in by a huge money making campaign. The HSUS dosen't want the seal hunt to stop. It is one of the groups biggest cash cows.

"brutally killing baby seals must be a total idiot and worse than the Gestapo.. "... Aha Ms. Yery, you have been sucked into the propoganda being carried out by radicalists. You obviously have not done your research. Whot coat seals ARE NOT being culled. Nice comment about boycott everything Canadian-- I hope that applies to all countries that do inhumane acts, including all those electronics your probably own from the communist repressive regime known as China, or your own country for the continued bombing of Iraqi civilians. If any of you have ever eaten any type of beef, chicken or pork, you are in absolute contradiction to your accusations. Seeing red blood on white snow gets you quite angry, but what do you think happens behind the doors at slaughterhouses? However, I really should not get all that upset. I mean if the world only gets angry at Canada for the killing of seals to support the Newfoundland Labrador industries, then so be it. It is much better than those constant henious crimes commited by the countries of those posting comments on this page.

They're not really baby seals, they're actually baby Palestinians. Now go back to sleep.

This is funny. Israelis calling Canada barbaric and brutal for the seal hunt, when Israel targets civilians with airstrikes, artillery barrages and blind firing by machine guns from checkpoints. Perhaps you Israelis should show the same level of compassion you claim for baby seals for HUMAN BEINGS being slaughtered by your storm troopers in Gaza and the West Bank. Cure your own barbarity and brutality before criticizing others.