In Canada, there is a contentious issue and it relates to the annual seal hunt. Many people are against this, while many feel that it provides a livelihood to many families. The seal hunt operated for quite some time before being banned in the 1970s thanks to the hard work of Greenpeace. However, not too long later it was brought back and many more baby seals began to die in this annual hunt.Meat, skins and more from the hunt are sold around the world, providing money to families in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the same situation, many African families were able to get money for food and shelter through hunting for ivory from elephants and rhinos, but eventually the world community said enough was enough and the legal ivory trade was stopped.
Many would like the same to happen with the seal hunt in Canada. All around the world, Canada is looked down upon for this. As a progressive country, the seal hunt represents a move back into the past where it was okay to hunt something needlessly. As a result, Layla and I support a banning of the seal hunt, just like we support banning of ivory sales and banning of whale hunting.
We had found out from IFAW's information that 98 percent of the animals killed in the past two years in the seal hunt have been baby seals between two weeks and three months old. On top of this, global warming is affecting where these seals breed, causing their numbers to dwindle. Despite this, the government of Canada raised the seal hunt quotas to their highest level ever.
If you would like to sign the same petition that we did, which is sponsored by IFAW, you can visit this website.
