Obama: Seal Hunt "Inhumane," An "Outrage"

The Toronto Star:

Campaigners leading a global effort against the Canadian seal hunt believe they have stumbled across a secret weapon that could bring Ottawa to heel - a letter of outrage from Barack Obama that condemns the annual cull as "inhumane."

The newly disclosed letter, written in April 2006, when Obama was a rookie senator from Illinois, leaves no doubt where he stands on the issue. In pointed language, he promises an unnamed constituent he will work with colleagues "to ensure that we take all the necessary steps to express our outrage" to the Canadian government.

Read the whole story: The Toronto Star

Comments

[MCJanes]

10:53 PM on 04/29/2009

Would you rather these cute little seals by shot by a rifle from a moving boat 40 metres away in the North Atlantic, missing the head 90 percent of the time and having them bleed to death in agony while the boat makes it's way through the ice to finish the kill?

Oh wait, it already happens. If you people learned your facts, you'd know that the overwhelming majority of seals are shot with a rifle. This, to me, is more inhumane than a quick blow to the head. After all, they're skulls are basically like egg shels compared to ours. Maybe we should just capture the seals, hang them upside-down and slit their throats until they bleed to death. Afteralll, we do that with cattle, and nobody seems to mind.

Yes, I'm a Newfoundlander, but no, I could never bring myself to shoot or club a seal. But I respect the right of those who do. It's not like they can apply for a job at the nearest Starbucks, because there ain't any.

And please stop calling the hunters barbarians. If you actually met them, you would end up thinking they're the kindest, most selfless people on earth.

[HC4BO]

03:54 PM on 04/10/2009

BTW:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/slideshows/896x504/europe16.JPG

Cutest Pic EVER !

[FrozenNorthObserver]

03:47 PM on 04/10/2009

too bad he does not feel the same about what you do to prisoners in Gitmo and the dozens of other torture sites..

[swo68]

03:24 PM on 04/10/2009

Hey, an issue I agree with Obama on.

[BarackstarObama]

03:29 PM on 04/10/2009

You should agree with him on many more issues, too.

[swo68]

03:41 PM on 04/10/2009

I'm not the kind of person who would do something just because I "should."

[LeLoup]

02:29 PM on 04/10/2009

Bring a good pack of Orcas in the St. Lawrence Gulf.
They'll take care of the problem.

Which problem, you ask? These puppies eat fish...tons of fish. Like any other specie on this planet, seals must have a predator to keep their population in balance within their particular ecosystem.

Now, is it better to watch a baby seal being devoured by a killer whale, or clubbed by a fisherman who depend on this hunt to make ends meet?

Hmmm! I won't pretend to have THE answer. I can only envy those who seem to have all the answers; usually an indication they don't know much about the situation.

[Kristin262]

03:11 PM on 04/10/2009

I vote for the natural predator. Clubbing and skinning seal pups alive is not nature, it is murder.

[GeorgeP922]

03:33 PM on 04/10/2009

Hooray, I wondered how long it would take for the caveman trolls to peak out of newfoundland.

Wow, your defense of the bashing of baby seal brains is so weak, I must beg you to rethink it.

If you believe in captilism you would know that subsidies prove that an industry in not viable.

So the Canadian government throws millions of dollars to help these "fisherman" and risks the lives of their coastguard, so they can sell the skins of these baby seals to rouge countries and Russia (the EU and USA and many other DEVELOPED countries have banned these skins outright).

Your argument is terribly weak, why doesnt the Canadian government use those millions of dollars to increase education up there?

Just sad as Canada has SO MANY things right, and to be so brutally wrong on this.

[Kristin262]

02:13 PM on 04/10/2009

As much as I like Canada and the Canadian people, I cannot accept this inhumane practice and have not only joined the boycott Canadian seafood challenge, I'm also trying to boycott all spending that benefits Canada in any way. That means I will no longer ski in Canada, or buy gasoline from a company that produces oil (Shell immediately comes to mind, but I need to do more research). Vacations in Canada: forget about it.

The cruelty involved in this annual slaughter makes me sick. I cannot live with myself and do nothing.

[liminal67]

12:16 PM on 04/10/2009

Not a hard issue to come out on the right side of....

http://pitchbendpost.blogspot.com/

[MochasMom]

12:06 PM on 04/10/2009

I am a Canadian. I hate that we do this.

I understand that there are good reasons to cull the seal population (there are some 6 million seals, a cull of 200,000 certainly won't endanger their population) but 6 million seals certainly endanger fish stocks in those waters. Understood.

I also understand that many people rely on seal hunting as their main source of income. Okay.

That said....If a cull is needed, I wish that my country would mandate a more humane way of dealing with this. It truly sickens me the WAY that these animals are slaughtered, and it needs to change.

Now.

[trimom]

01:34 PM on 04/10/2009

Agreed. Thanks for your comment.

[MideastDove]

01:50 PM on 04/10/2009

It would be better if the natural culling process were to take place, instead of human intervention.

[ladydragon]

11:44 AM on 04/10/2009

look at that cute little face, why would someone want to hurt this beautiful animal?

[GeorgeP922]

11:54 AM on 04/10/2009

Its really in the end, a sickness of govt subsidized "farming" and its systemic worldwide.

Its bad enough that nations which are a pillar of western governments, subsidize the cruel and uneccesary slaughter of Whales, Dolphins, and Seals.

These countries of course are Canada, Japan, and to a lesser extent Norway.

And in some cases too, it can be argued these nations keep these practices for a sense of nationalism, but who knows.

All I know is that every year, Japan kills 1000 wales, cuts them up and freezes their meat in freezers (Japanese dont like the meat, it taste bad and makes you sick, so the govt forces the schools to feed it)
Canada kills over 100,000 seals, and sends their furs to Russia, and a few third world countries (Europe and America banned it)
Norway kills like 25 whales, who knows why they bother, I think it's nationalism for them.

[crazylikeafox]

11:24 AM on 04/10/2009

40-60% of the pups are still alive when they are skinned.

I saw a video once of the Chinese skinning dogs alive.

It was the most horrifying thing you'd ever want to see.

[Freesia2]

12:13 PM on 04/10/2009

It makes me ill just reading that. I haven't watched the videos. I just can't. It's so barbaric. And if you've ever loved an animal, which I have and do, I know all I have to do is put the idea of them in these situations and it's just unimaginable.

Ever since I read about the dogs in China, I gave up a little guilty pleasure of mine. This will sound silly, but you know the Klaw machines where you can win a stuffed animal? For some bizarre reason I'm very good with those. It was a joke in my family and sometimes they'd give me a roll of quarters as a Christmas gift. It made me feel like a kid. Seemed harmless. I could sometimes snag 2 stuffed animals at once. Anyway, I realized that most of them are made in China and I could assume that the "fake" fur on them wasn't fake. I save my quarters now. And I don't buy anything, anywhere, that has fake fur on it. Why oh why don't they put a stop to this? Those poor dogs.

Looking at the picture of that beautiful baby seal. I'm glad my President is on his side.

[GeorgeP922]

11:19 AM on 04/10/2009

Thank god we have a President who is finally against the clubbing of little seals.

[shel3364]

11:14 AM on 04/10/2009

Damn skippy its an outrage. Just another reason I like my president.

[harriscrl3]

11:05 AM on 04/10/2009

Obama outrage by seal hunting he just doesnt seem to be the type. Just when you think this guy is who he says he is he goes and shows you that you dont know him at all. No wonder Fix news has been so successful in portraying him as somenone not to be trusted. All these inconsistencies in his personality

Carol

[gayinmt]

11:53 AM on 04/10/2009

What? He seems like a compassionate human being. Any compassionate human wouldn't want to kill an animal for no reason.

[cyclobenzaprine9]

12:13 PM on 04/10/2009

Keep in mind that oftentimes the President tries to be bipartisan and listen to be both sides to be fair to both sides. This is why sometimes he also says things that liberals don't agree with. He is the president of the people, of everyone. And FIX news is a joke.

[Marie62866]

10:49 AM on 04/10/2009

Look at the sweet baby seal, how could anyone hurt them!

[Dolmance]

07:07 PM on 04/09/2009

Come on, people... It's no worse than garroting a panda.