‘Cruelty’ Cries During Sealing

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31320, 16 March 1967, Page 17

‘Cruelty’ Cries During Sealing

(From MELVIN SUFRIN, Special Correspondent N Z.P.A.) TORONTO, Mar. 15. The annual seal hunt in the icy waters of Canada’s Atlantic coast is under way to the accompaniment of charges of brutality and demands that the slaughter be halted once and for all. The first phase of the hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ended March 11 when the Government-set quota of 50,000 whitecoats—baby seals —was reached. Adult seals may be taken in the gulf until April 26. In addition ships of several countries, including Norway, are at the Front, off the coast of Labrador, where there are no quotas and the season extends to April 30. 60 Aircraft Eight sealing vessels and some 60 aircraft took part in the hunt for baby seals in the gulf, an area regarded as part of Canada’s territorial waters and therefore barred to foreign sealers. At least 20 planes were damaged while landing or taking off in bad weather during

the five-day i operation although no-one was injured.

Seal hunters work from ice floes during the day, killing the animals with rifles or by knocking them on the head with clubs. The animals are then skinned and left to be picked up at sundown.

Because of the weather dozens of hunters were marooned on the ice during the first days of the hunt, shivering through nights in which temperatures dropped to zero. Aircraft could not reach them from their bases in the Madgalen Islands and some ships were delayed by the heavy ice. More Inspectors

The charges of cruelty, usually from officials of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or the Humane Society, are heard each year. Although the Government says only the odd hunter engages in cruel practices such as skinning seals alive, it sent out an unprecedented number of inspectors this year. Altogether there were 48 inspectors from the Federal and Quebec Governments. In addition five Humane Society observers went along. Federal inspectors have the

right to take away a hunter’s licence or bring charges but there have been no reports of any such action in the first part of the 1967 bunt.

Demands that the seal hunt be ended reached their peak in 1964 after a Montreal firm produced a film showing a seal being skinned alive in the Gulf. The movie was shown in many countries and the action depicted brought scores of protests. Benefit of Cameras

As it turned out, the scene was a phoney, having been staged for the benefit of the cameras. But it was not until 1966 that the Canadian Fisheries Department was able to obtain an admission from a fisherman that he had been hired by the film crew to perform the barbaric act. By then it was difficult to offset the bad publicity. In defence of the sealers, the Fisheries Minister, Mr Hedard Robichaud, says, “almost 100 per cent of Canadian sealers are extremely careful to kill as humanely as possible.” But there are also important economic reasons why the Government declines to forbid sealing. There were 5445 Canadian sealers hunting in

the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the Front last year and they came home with 170,000 seals worth about £650,000. Many men who would otherwise be unemployed during the winter months earned about £4OO for the short season. Their income is expected to be at least as much this year.

Hardwood Club The men are working under new regulations, the main one of which requires that seals be killed by a hardwood club between 24 and 30 inches in length and not less than two inches in diameter for half its length. Rifles, ammunition and muzzle velocity must meet minimum specifications, and all men engaged in sealing must have a licence and wear a plastic identification button issued with it. Hunters are no longer permitted to kill seals with their gaffs, the 6ft wooden poles with hooks on the end, but are allowed to carry them. Gaffs may be the difference between life and death for a man who topples into the icy water from an ice pan and needs something with which to pull himself out. Skull Examination It is possible to tell by examining the skull of a slain seal whether it was properly killed and it is here that most of the inspection is concentrated. A fisheries scientist searching for an undamaged skull, indicating improper killing, had to examine 87 before finding one, and in that case the seal’s neck had been broken, showing it had died instantly. As for suggestions that seals are sometimes skinned alive, officials emphasise that it is only logical for a sealer to kill the animal first. A live seal would jerk in such a manner as to damage the pelt during skinning, and the hunter’s hands would be in danger from the jaws of an adult seal.