Superstar Seal Hunt

[mythteller]

I watched the debate between Paul McCartney/Heather Mills and the Newfoundland premier (Danny Williams) on Larry King last night on the Canadian seal hunt. It was largely disappointing, mainly because the McCartney's weren't really answering King's questions; they kept playing the tragedy/sympathy card over and over.

When Premier Danny Williams came on, the "debate" came down to the following:

HM: Now we don't want to tell you what to do, but the seal hunt is wrong and should be stopped! Bad on you Canada! Bad!
DW: You're largely misinformed, probably because you're getting all your intel from activists.
HM: Rubbish! Cute seals are dying every day because you're clubbing them to death!
DW: Actually, 90% are shot in the most humane way possible
PM: No! That's a lie! And because I have a British accent, I'm more believable that you! Seals are going to go extinct if this continues!
DW: Actually, there are over 5 million seals. If we let the seal over-populate the area, they could all starve
HM: More lies! It's perfectly normal for there to be millions and millions of seals! Lies, lies, lies!
DW: Er... I live here so I think I know what's going on in my own province...
HM: Poppycock!

Personally, I think the seal hunt is vilified so much because seals are so cute and adorable. I don't see too many activists jumping up and down about the cruelties of the Woolly Monkey hunt, the unreasonable persecution of the Wombat, or the tragedy of sharks that get caught in fishing nets.

My stand on the issue is that I don't buy fur products. Should you not buy fur products? It's up to you to decide and it's not my job to tell you one way or the other.

In an unrelated vein, we went to see LLO's production of Patience (my friend Colleen was in it). The women in the production were amazing, but the men were... well... let's just say that since talyesin (and others) left, they've been suffering in the male lead department.

Comments

[jdhobbes.livejournal.com]

Because the animals don't have a voice, so people think they need more protection than humans who *potentially* have a voice.

As for the depleted cod stocks, I have my huge beef with Spain and their trawlers that cross our sea borders while the ships stay safely on the right side of the border.

As with any issue, the actual situation is much bigger than what's explained to us from any one perspective.