78-07-B4

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Seal Hunt

Transcript A few weeks ago a writer in the Los Angeles Times, Parker Barss Donham, did an article on the 1978 Canadian baby seal hunt. One line in his article was quite thought provoking; "If seal pups were as ugly as lobsters, their harvest would go unnoticed". Accompanying his article was a photo that proved his point. It was a snow white baby seal with its black nose and round dark eyes looking like something you'd put in the nursery for the children to cuddle. Add to this horrifying accounts of men clubbing these . cuddly creatures to death in a mass slaughter with the inference that death comes slowly and agonizingly and it's easy to understand the protests and demonstrations every year. Now for the record, I couldn't hit one of those seals with a club. I couldn't hit a hog with a club and I squirm when I think about live lobsters being chucked into that boiling pot. Still, I enjoy eating lobster and I love a good steak, but I wouldn't want to work in the packing plant. Now let me go on with what Mr. Donham had to say about the annual harvest of real pups. How many of us know how sophisticated the protestors are in their annual crusade against the Newfoundlanders who carry on the hunt? There is an international organization which stays in business year round primarily to raise money to protest the seal harvest. A $40,000-a-year executive rides around in the organization's own helicopter. All of that would stop if they ever succeed in halting the seal harvest. It does give you something to think about-- particularly if you are one of the contributors to the organization. Time won't permit all the facts disclosed by Mr. Donham but here are some that shed light on what has been portrayed as blood thirsty brutality. In the first place, use of the word, harvest is appropriate. The Canadian government sets the quota of how many seal pups can be taken. The Harp seal is not in danger of extinction. It is one of the most abundant species in the world and the herd is growing, not shrinking. Elimination of the seal pup harvest would have a disastrous effect on the already depleted Atlantic fishing grounds. Each year the seals consume two million tons of small fish that are a vital link in the food chain for cod, sea birds and whales. So much for that. Now, for the charge that the seal pups suffer a painful and lingering death. Careful research has been done by the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Ontario Humane Society and the Canadian Audabon Society. They have studied the best means of killing seals, such as guns, drugs, gas. Their conclusion is that clubbing with a hardwood bat on the Norwegian hokapik is the most humane method and brings on instant death or deep, irreversible unconsciousness. According to these researchers, the seal hunt in terms of humaneness compares favorably with the method of dispatching domesticated animals which provide us with our daily food supply. I'm sure Mr. Donham knew he was bucking an emotional tide when he wrote his article. It took courage, but he performed a useful service. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 78-07-B4 Production Date 05/15/1978 Book/Page RihoH-334 Audio Youtube? No
		Added Notes Harp Seal (Wikipedia)