The London, On. chapter of PETA just recently staged a protest against our national seal hunt. Toy seals were heaped on the sidewalk at a busy street corner, their fury white (fake) fur smeared with simulated blood (if it was ketchup, I do hope it was the certified bio stuff); someone dramatically bludgeoned the pile with a bat while some showed bystanders brutal pictures of mutilated carcases and others of seals being skinned alive…
Apparently, ‘shocking’ was the key word! The ol’ but revamped adage that in order to raise awareness and funds for a cause (or as I like to say: to sell an opinion and guarantee a salary for doing it…), if you can’t connect sex to your topic, the next best thing is recreating the feel and ambiance of the Saw movies!
I’ll be frank; this is one topic on which I still swing both ways; don't know what to tell you! All the arguments, pro and con, are available within a few clicks so I won’t rehash them here; I’ll rely on readers to find sources and make sure they get both sides of the story…
However, this is what I do know and can tell you:
I do know that I don't like the idea that seals are suffering, both as the result of hunts or its opposite, starvation due to overpopulation and the subsequent lack of food (taking into account the melting ice caps and its effect on food supplies).
I also know that, for all it's worth, Canadians are getting an entirely different story from its government and those communities participating in the seal hunts; though we also do not like to see the images, the majority seems to accept that 'clubbing' is the best possible course of action for all... as long as the seals don't suffer!
Another thing I do know is that this issue has forced me to admit that it really irks me when rich and snooty Europeans—Bono, Bardot, McCartney, and the likes...and yes, I've also got DeGaule in mind—meddle directly in any of our affairs. Canadians (I know I'm not alone on this) apparently have a hard time swallowing outside pressure, especially when it’s coming from England, France, that one Irish dude (you know who I mean), and the U.S. I’m not entirely sure why that is (except for the Irish dude); hmmm…perhaps a subject worth investigating in a future post. Anyhow…
Something else that I do know is that this subject clearly brings to light hypocrisy from everyone, including supporters! I also know that the seal hunt is proving itself to be great food for propaganda on both sides of the battle, and I also know that I have heard way too many allegations from varied sources regarding false, falsified and manufactured material being used in anti-seal hunting campaigns to overlook this aspect. And PETA does have a reputation for...well...you know... wanting to 'win at all cost!'
Lastly, the most important thing that I know is that winning this fight (which for me implies a course of actions that would resolve all facets of this issue while also ensuring that only the dying seals are 'put out of their misery' and their 'bounty' used up entirely) would be a pointless victory if we all don't change our general attitude. Why?
Because I also know that everyone needs to know the following: presently, everyone is fighting this cause à la James Dean... without a cause! Unfortunately, except for most of the people who 'work' for the organizations and humane groups, almost all supporters who are fervently against the seal hunt are entirely letting feelings make their decisions while barely leaving any room for logic. In this context, this would be right if things weren't so wrong! And since things are so wrong, present generations can't afford to let emotions dictate too many more of our big, 'earth' related decisions.
This will be fully explained in my next post, but keep in mind at this point that one of the reasons I say this is because certain 'feelings' have clearly been warped and weakened for us and by us; society is incredibly desensitised. Now is the time for logic to take over for a while to get our 'hearts' back in shape and to get that blood flowing to the brain again...
Logically, I feel that this is the biggest problem:
If done humanely and within strict regulations over the target types and their numbers, killing seals is, by far, no worse than killing chickens, cows, bulls, pigs, sheep and their lambs, or dragging in a net full of fish... I am by no means trying to imply that killing all these animals is honky-dory and necessary, however, people definitely need to keep this comparison in mind and need to be honest with themselves before taking a firm stance on the topic of seal hunting!
Here’s a little test I like to perform on people:What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I say the words: chicken, fish, and lamb?
The context in which this is being asked may have affected your own answer, but otherwise, 9 out of 10 people** give me a ‘food’ answer (anything that relates to food i.e. the name of a dish or words like ‘lunch’ or ‘tasty,’ etc.) over an ‘animal’ one (anything that actually relates to a living creature). This simple test reveals much about our society!!!
So, if you’re a ‘food’ person and you’re seriously against seal hunting, maybe you really need to review why and hope that “they’re just so cute,” is not the only answer you can provide. Lambs are also cute and I’m sure there are people out there who think that cows are sexy and I’m also fairly certain I read a story somewhere about some man marrying a chicken… So what?! After being stacked, packed and forced to grow ASAP, are they spared from the slaughterhouses when you're hungry?
And what about the whopping big death tolls that are fed to us by all the ‘anti-hunt’ groups? Although they may seem like overwhelming numbers, strict quotas are established to insure a healthy population and sure, I hate to have to go back to my chickens on this but… truth is, more chickens get their necked snapped or chopped throughout the world on any single day, year round! And what about cows and...
So I also know that until we hear of the existence of seal farms that behave and operate with the same vile mentality demonstrated by the commercial farms and slaughterhouses that drive our food industry, shouldn’t seal hunting be the least of our problems? Shouldn't consumers focus on their eating habits first?
So why is PETA so intensely involved on this one particular campaign (or are they?) and why are they focusing their efforts in Europe? And what about those allegations?
I’ve got more to say on this, so I will have more double-edged questions put forward in the form of answers for you to question in the next post…
Until then, please enjoy this happy seal (not to be confused with Happy Meal™):
Keep on clicking!
PDL
**Numbers given have been attained through informal testing done outside of a controlled environment and as such, although interesting, do not constitute meaningful scientific data. Actual results: 64 in total; 56 (87.5%) - food response; 5 (7.8%) - animal response; 3 (4.7%) - n/a answer or too long a response time to consider the answer as spontaneous.
© 2009, Pascal-Denis Lussier
Photo credits: unknown - stock image.
No comments:
Post a Comment