Protesters vow to end seal hunt - update on Sea Shepherd ship seized Canada

[Annces]

DARREN YOURK
Globe and Mail Update

April 14, 2008
full article
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080414.wfarleymowat0414/BNStory/National/home



The war of words over the seizure of the anti-sealing vessel Farley Mowat continued Monday, with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson vowing that the end is near for the Canadian seal hunt.

Mr. Watson, who is in Sydney to bail two crew members out of jail, told CTV News that his team has footage of seals screaming while being skinned alive that will be used to help end the hunt.

“We haven't seen any evidence of a humane hunt here,” Mr. Watson said. “We're presenting this evidence to the European Parliament. They are going to pass a bill to ban seal products. That will end the Canadian seal hunt. We're looking at the end of days for the seal hunt.”

The European Union's environment chief, Stavros Dimas, told Reuters on Sunday he will propose to ban imports of all seal products resulting from hunts where animals suffer. Belgium and the Netherlands last year banned imports of seal products on their own, prompting Canada to launch a trade dispute with the EU. Both bans were the result of concern about cruel hunts.

Mr. Dimas declined to comment on what constituted inhumane killing, instead referring to an EU-commissioned report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published in December.

The EFSA report recommended that animals be killed quickly, be checked that they were dead and bled before skinning, and that monitoring procedures be in place. At issue is how quickly the animals die, lest they end up being skinned alive.