95% of Dutch people find the commercial seal hunt unacceptable!
My deep suspicion that the Dutch population are dead against the commercial seal hunt was confirmed today by the results of a survey conducted by TNS NIPO ( Dutch Institute for Public Opinion and Market Research) on behalf of Bont voor Dieren. 95% of Dutch people find the Canadian commercial seal hunt unacceptable. Moreover, there is also massive public support for a Dutch ban on the import and trade in all seal products. 92% of Dutch people believe that Minister Bot of Foreign Affairs should introduce a national import and trade ban on all seal fur and other seal products.
With such results, Minister Bot can no longer continue to ignore the strength of public opinion. Last year he wrote in response to parliamentary questions that he had been informed throroughly about the hunt by the Canadian government. He said that he agreed that it concerned a 'responsible harvest from nature' given that the seal population is not threatened by extinction. The Minister also deemed clubbing to be a humane method for killing the seals. There is nothing humane about smashing in the skulls of young seals just because you want to steal their fur coats. Minister Bot should contemplate the fact that it is ethical reprehensible that the chief goal of the commercial hunt is to obtain seal pelts. There can be no moral justification for killing animals for this purpose.
It was also striking that this research revealed that 92% of the Dutch population found the fate of the seals to be more important than employment opportunities and the economic benefits of the hunt. The Canadian government has argued that the over-fishing of the eastern Canadian waters, which lead to a ban on cod catches in 1992, has meant that the local fishermen's supplementary income from seal hunting has become ever more important. They ask for sympathy for the poor fisherfolk who should be given the chance to earn a couple of extra hundred dollars a year, literally off the backs of seals. The seals are viewed simply as a natural resource and the fact that their lives are worth protecting is not even taken into consideration. Shame on you, Canada.
With such results, Minister Bot can no longer continue to ignore the strength of public opinion. Last year he wrote in response to parliamentary questions that he had been informed throroughly about the hunt by the Canadian government. He said that he agreed that it concerned a 'responsible harvest from nature' given that the seal population is not threatened by extinction. The Minister also deemed clubbing to be a humane method for killing the seals. There is nothing humane about smashing in the skulls of young seals just because you want to steal their fur coats. Minister Bot should contemplate the fact that it is ethical reprehensible that the chief goal of the commercial hunt is to obtain seal pelts. There can be no moral justification for killing animals for this purpose.
It was also striking that this research revealed that 92% of the Dutch population found the fate of the seals to be more important than employment opportunities and the economic benefits of the hunt. The Canadian government has argued that the over-fishing of the eastern Canadian waters, which lead to a ban on cod catches in 1992, has meant that the local fishermen's supplementary income from seal hunting has become ever more important. They ask for sympathy for the poor fisherfolk who should be given the chance to earn a couple of extra hundred dollars a year, literally off the backs of seals. The seals are viewed simply as a natural resource and the fact that their lives are worth protecting is not even taken into consideration. Shame on you, Canada.
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