[Naturefreak]

This is a very controversial subject and I personally think it is disturbing . The seal hunt in my area has been cancelled this year because the government wouldn't fund them in creating markets for the seal products. I am an animal lover and I eat meat so I can't really be a hypocrite and the seals are very plentiful and eat much of our fish supply when overpopulated . Some claim it takes one blow to the head . I've watched videos where they have hit them as many as 10 times. If you happen to be or know anyone who participates in this act , can you explain why you have to club . Couldn't you use a gun.
It just makes me sick.

What do you think of the annual seal hunt?

The poll should read , DO YOU AGREE WITH THE ANNUAL SEAL HUNT? sorry

[lynn P.]

Yes this has bothered me for many years, the way they club them. But you make a valid point, that if they, don't do this - then the seals will deplete the fish supply and we know how important that is for Nova Scotians - right? I agree they could shoot them, only to maintain the right balance(fish vs seals) - the same way they do deer culls. I also wouldn't mind if eskimo people kill them for food - that's no different than killing a cow or chicken. I don't think they should be killed in such a brutal fashion(clubs) for their fur. It's the way it's done and for what purpose. It doesn't always take just one club. I voted no - don't club them but I do agree if they're over populated to reduce in a more humane way.

[lonegael]

I agree with Bellacutie. I also am a little perplexed as to why concentrate so heavily on the you. The seals of all ages have skins and meat that the first nations have used for generations, and isn't so unusable either. And clubs are just to preserve the quality of the skins. Really! I don't know about how it is in Canada but in Califonria you can walk right up and scream at a big bull seal and he'll just roar back and roll over. Seems shooting wouldn't be such a huge challenge if the situation is at all similar. A bit of cruel tradition from a time when bullets cost more.

[Timgt5]

it does indeed look rather vicious and inhumane

[loveregardless]

I do not eat mammal, but I do eat fish and poultry. However, if I had to acquire the meat myself, I wouldn't eat any of it. Except for maybe fish... sorry nemo.

I do not agree that hunting should be allowed simply because there is an overpopulation in the opinions of an overpopulated species. The amount of damage that we as a grossly over populated species do ourselves, to any and all ecosystems on this planet, is far more costly than any other species and their nominal impact.

People do it because they think it's fun to kill things. And that's pretty sad and terrifying imo.

In regards to the clubbing issue, I just can't even fathom how a person could do something like that to another living creature. Makes me nauseous even thinking about it.

[loveregardless]

That being said, I am of cherokee ancestry, and I understand that hunting used to be (and for many still is) a necessary means of acquiring sustenance. I am excluding the instances of native/indigenous peoples who's life style and philosophies are completely different than or modern societies, and who experience and appreciate the life exchange in a completely different way than we do, from my previous statement, just for the record. I'm talking about the average Joe who works in construction and goes hunting on the weekends for jollies. Sorry Joe, but you freak me out.

[Perna]

90% of Canadian hunters (they're not the majority of the world seal hunters; there's many kinds of seals hunted and none have ever come close to being in danger of extinction) use firearms but often the firearm doesn't kill the seal so they have to move in and use the club, the kind, etc. is regulated by law just like the type of firearms allowed are. The club is supposed to be used in a certain place/way to crush the skull.

All forms of wild/animal hunting are "brutal" if you think about it (Bambi anyone? :-) and there are always bad groups taking too many/trying to get an edge, etc. There are laws about how old a seal has to be (the Canadian ones have to have grown out of their white baby coats) but you know young animals have certain characteristics that are going to be valued (lamb, veal, some coats, etc.) and more costly; anything that is "prohibited" is going to get a certain criminal element trying to get it because it will make more money.

[Typo]

I have a problem with it, because of the means used to do it, like you said babysteps, why not use a gun? A club seems cruel and like a prolonged death for the seal.

Now if they are overpopulated and causing damage to the ecosystem and the community around it then I'm okay with hunting, but in a way that isn't as cruel or torturing for the animal, it should be a quick death with little or no suffering.

I have seen the damage overpopulation of a certain species can do, I live in a rural area and deer are a big problem here, they have no preadtors (except for the odd bear and occasional times a coytote pack takes them down) they graze out the cow fields, when in heat bucks will attack humans and pets, and don't even get me started on how much damage they do in car accidents and crops. If there wasn't to be a hunting season, the population would sky rocket and they would in the end kill themselves out with dieases and starvation, which would in turn send the whole ecosystem on a tetter totter of doom.

So I can see the neccessity of the hunt if the overpopulation is that bad, like the above metioned deer problem we have here, but it should be done in a non-cruel way, I just don't see the point of using a club..