AR-News: (France) Clubs are out in force for baby seals

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Clifford Krauss/NYT NYT Monday, April 5, 2004



 
CAPS-AUX-MEULES, Quebec Buoyed by new markets in Russia and Poland, and by 
changing environmental calculations, Canada has lifted the quota for baby seal 
hunting to a rate unheard of in a half-century. 
.
Animal rights advocates, horrified by the clubbing of infant harp seals, 
swayed public opinion against the hunt two decades ago. Environmentalists joined 
the campaign, fearing the species was being depleted. World sales collapsed. 
Even Canada reacted with revulsion and began stiffening regulations. 
.
But now, a recovering market has turned into a quiet boom. 
.
Here on ice patches of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the hunt looks nearly as 
brutal as ever. For as far as the eye can see, dozens of burly men bearing clubs 
roam the ice in snowmobiles and spiked boots in search of silvery young harp 
seals. With one or two blows to the head, they crush the skulls, sometimes 
leaving the young animals in convulsions. The men drag the bodies to waiting 
fishing vessels or skin them on the spot, leaving a crisscross of bloody trails on 
the slowly melting ice. 
.


full story:

http://www.iht.com/articles/513339.htm 
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