December 28, 2008
Today, Humane Society International/Canada condemned proposed amendments to the Marine Mammal Regulations as yet another cynical ploy by the Canadian government to counter a pending European Union ban on seal product trade.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has suggested a three-step killing process and a ban on the use of hakapiks on seals more than one year old.
"These proposed amendments do not prescribe a humane death for seals as any recognized veterinary authority would define it, they are cosmetic changes designed to make slaughter appear more humane on paper but will do nothing whatsoever to make the killing humane in practice," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of HSI/Canada. "Banning the use of hakapiks to kill seals older than one year does little given that 97 percent of the seals killed in Canada are less than 3 months old when slaughtered. Furthermore, the Marine Mammal Regulations, regardless of any amendments, cannot be enforced. For decades, veterinary panels have concluded that adequate monitoring of the commercial seal hunt does not occur and is a practical impossibility. Without monitoring, enforcement cannot occur."
In the midst of an economic crisis, the DFO estimates the cost of implementing these changes to be as high as $3.6 million in the first year
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