Canada Lobbies EU Against Ban on Seal Products

The European Union is about to vote on the decision of baning seal product imports from countries that kill the animals in an inhumane manner. Canada is one of the states where the seals are most brutally done away with. They are clubbed to death with spiked wood, with metal rods, and with hakapiks, which are the traditional killing method in the country. The country puts to death thousands of these animals each year, and international protest from environmental groups have called the media's attention to the issue.

CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has announced that lobbyists from the country are in Europe right now, trying to sway members of the European Parliament from passing this bill. Their road to the Old Continent was financed by the Canadian Federal Fisheries and Oceans Department, which is one of the main promoters of the slaughter that takes place in the country's frozen waters yearly.

While hunters continue to say that their hunt is human and not cruel, activists have proved that this is a bold lie with each video they have brought back from their surveillance. In one, viewers can see how small baby seals are repeatedly bashed over the head with a hakapik, and how the hunter is laughing while doing so. On top of that, the hunters even have the nerve to take to the streets and protest against the activists, saying that this is none of their business. In fact, it is.

Animal rights activists rightfully accused Canada of practicing barbaric, cruel and antiquated methods of hunting, and their approval to the proposed EU plan was complete. Now, the Canadian delegation will undoubtedly try to sway the European Union from adopting the measure, probably by saying that this will cripple its northern part of the country. The truth is, people there should have thought about that before putting spikes through the heads of defenseless animals.

More than 300,000 harp seals are killed in the country each year, and Europe is a major market for products that result from the animals' processing. If that market becomes unavailable, Canada will hopefully employ more humane hunting methods, and will at least wash off some of its shame in the eyes of the world.