The European ban on seal fur is recently approved by the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) in the European Parliament. With this agreement follows the rest Europe in the footsteps of Belgium, the first EU-country that put a ban on seal fur and derived products.
Great news for our furry friends! “With this decision the EU-ban on trade in seal products takes a serious step forward”, tells a satisfied Michel Vandenbosche on the website of Gaia, the biggest Belgian animal rights organization in Belgium . Gaia organized a big campaign for the EU sealfur-prohibition together with International Fund for Animals (IFAW) en Humane Society International (HSI).
An obvious majority of 25 against 7 voted in the IMCO-meeting for a total prohibition on the trade of seal products on the 2nd of March 2009. Belgian MEP Marianne Thyssen applauds the decision: “A ban on the import and commercialization of seal products is the most efficient way to make an end to the inhumane practices in which yearly hundred thousands of animals are killed. If fur traders from Canada, Greenland, Namibia and Russia don’t manage to sell their products to one of the biggest import markets worldwide, this EU-decision can be called a giant leap in the right direction for animal welfare.” In Canada alone, every year hundred thousand of guiltless seals pay with their lives. Last year more than 217 000 seal pups were slaughtered, almost all of them were younger than 3 months.
The seal killing problem is pressing. The last ten years the seal population in Russia has decreased to one third. Only 200 000 seals are left, due to the melt down of the polar ice and the brutal seal hunt. Russian hunters don’t hesitate to slam young seal pups to death for their precious white fur coat. Fortunately prime minister Vladimir Poetin doesn’t approve the seal slaughter and calls it “a bloody activity that should have been forbidden a long time ago”. The Russian government decided to outlaw the hunt for seals younger than one year old. This is a kick in the face of Norway though, that wanted to subsidize the seal hunt for 80% to support the market in seal fur as a counter reaction against the possible EU-ban.
The final decision about the total prohibition will be taken by the European Parliament and the European Council of Ministers. The plenary vote on this topic is scheduled for the second of April. I keep my fingers crossed.
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I’ve heard a report on Canadian CBC radio lately, and they were discussing the possibility of a fur trade ban by the EU. The report was quite sympathetic towards the Canadian seal hunters and fur traders, and the European parliament was more or less blamed for threatening Canadian jobs in economically tough times. A spokesman for the fur industry said that the Canadian government should force fur hunters to kill seals in a “humane” way (i.e. to stun the animal with a blow on the head first). He believed that this measure was adequate enough to avoid the European ban. (I wasn’t exactly convinced by his explanation.)
“The Russian government decided to outlaw the hunt for seals younger than one year old.”
Unfortunately that hasn’t done much good. One of the blogs I follow is by a woman in Vladivostok who runs a private seal sanctuary and works with many seal charities and institutions in Russia and Europe; she’s mentioned that after the ban, hunters simply round up young seals in pens and keep them there without any sort of decent care until they are old enough to slaughter, under the law. (Her blog, in Russian, is at http://tosainu.livejournal.com/)
Sorry to be a bit controversial about this, but we have to separate the environmental issues and human rights (very valid) from the ‘oooh, doesn’t it look sweet!’ (not valid) arguments. Problem for me in this debate is those 2 sides get very mixed up.
Jon - you’re quite right. The most appalling example of this that I’ve seen is the whale hunting in the Faroe islands. They do this as a festival, once a year, when a large pack of whales travels by. It’s a folk tradition, not done industrially, the population really does depend on the foodstuffs they get this way and use them very rationally, and the type of whale in question is not endangered.
But the whale hunt also produces images like these, so a lot of people get disproportionately angry about it…
It is clear though that nothing is humane about this mass whale slaughter.
The fact that it is tradition does not mean it is justified either.
Ethical arguments by the way are not the same as: oh doesn’t it look sweet.
Concerning the seal hunt: to me it’s clear that it’s not humane and not necessary. I say: ban it.
@ Jens: Good observation from Canada, thanks. This is again an example of the way fur traders try to protect their commercial interests. And of course they do. People who make good money by forcing women in prostitution or by selling illegal weapons to individuals, wouldn’t be happy either with EU-bans and strict legislations that bring their ‘job’ into danger, especially in economically tough times. They could defend their business by telling they always use condoms !in the prostitution case) or by stressing that they don’t sell to children (in the weapon case). But should we care about their ‘human right’ of ‘making money’?
@ Andrei post 1: The Russian case shows once more that we should combat the seal-problem at the base: not only by restricting the hunt, but by taking away the demand. A total EU-Ban is of course better than Poetins recent decision, but it least it shows that Russia is aware of the problem and open for change.
@ Jon: Sorry, but I think you didn’t read my post, maybe you got distracted by the picture of the young seal. It’s not their fault they look cute, but I’ve never mentioned this as an argument against the seal hunt in this article. If hundred thousands of, let’s say young street dogs or -less cute- young pidgins would be slammed to death or to unconciousness in the streets, their -sometimes still breathing- bodies left in blood and their skin/feathers ruthly taken away, wouldn’t everybody be shocked? Not because they used to be so cute, but by the brutality and the senselessness of these deeds?
That brings me to Andrei’s second comment. You compare the seal fur hunt with the traditional whale killing festival at Faroe. It’s very hard to see the link. All the characteristics you give about this festival or opposite to the seal killings for fur.
“It’s a folk tradition”–> Can you call a ‘yearly festival’ a justification for whale killing? I doubt it. Still, seal hunt for fur has nothing to do with tradition, it is business. The ban against seal fur is not an attack to the Inuit for example who have to kill seals for their meat and fur in order to survive. The fur produces by the seal hunt will not make a difference in the existence of traditional people. It will be just another luxury product on a catwalk.
“not done industrially” –> Seal hunt could be called industrial, even though the killings are done by hand. We are not talking about one seal that is slaughtered in some ritual to scare away the bad spirits. No, hunters kill one seal after the other, without selection, without empathy or ‘humane’ritual.
“the population really does depend on the foodstuffs they get this way”–> Did any European ever die because he/she didn’t get his/her seal fur coat? The hunters are only interested in the fur, the ‘meat’ is left behind and will die a painfull death for no ‘valid reason’ on the ice.
“and use them very rationally” –> Hundred thousands of seals, I wouldn’t call this rational, especially if you know how many seals are killed for just one coat. Is that rational?
“the type of whale in question is not endangered” –> the seal population has been decreasing because of the melting polar ice and the seal hunt. Only 200 000 seals are left in Russia.
Excellent article Veerle, thx for bringing out the matter and keep us inform of the latest steps in the EU to stop and ban seal indiscriminate killing.
Bravo for the IMCO ^_^
Veerle,
what you do in this forum is excellent work. I hope you manage to make people more concious and help them become more engaged in matters which count, rather than in matters of secondary importance.
My friend on Orkut shared this link and I’m not dissapointed at all that I came to your blog.
I hope after this ban has been passed, we can do something about the dreadful way the chinese are skinning cats and dogs while still alive. here’s hoping
The link you delivered surely will not seem to work, does any person have a mirror or backup link source?