Canadian government denies journalists and animal welfare groups permits to document slaughter

Thursday, March 27, 2008

The commercial hunt of Harp seals in Canada sis due to start 30 minutes before dawn tomorrow (Friday 28 March 2008).  However, at the time of writing, Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials have refused to confirm they will issue permits to observers to document the killing for the opening day of the hunt.

Observation of the seal hunt is a right guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The commercial seal hunt occurs in public space, and journalists and citizens have the right to bear witness to it and document what happens. 

At the same time that Canadian government officials are denying journalists full access to the seal hunt, a delegation of sealing industry lobbyists funded by the Canadian government is travelling to Brussels to convince the EU not to ban the import of seal products.  In 2006, the European Parliament passed a historic resolution calling on the European Commission to immediately draft legislation banning the trade in all seal products.

The European Commission has initiated a study on the animal welfare aspects of commercial seal hunting, the results of which should provide the foundation for a ban. That study found evidence that seals may be “skinned whilst conscious, resulting in avoidable pain, distress, fear and . . . suffering.”

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