Germany’s stand on seal hunting – moral or hypocritical?

For immediate release

Ottawa, March 2, 2007 – Canadians are increasingly frustrated at the double standards set by countries like Germany, who are denouncing managed hunts of abundant wildlife populations as immoral and unethical – in this case, it is seal hunting in Canada. Rob Cahill, Executive Director of the Fur Institute of Canada, says, “We find it interesting that Germany hunts seven times more deer and wild boar each year, for their high-end restaurant market, than seals that are hunted in Canada. The hunting methods are virtually the same, as 90% of the Canadian seal hunt is conducted with rifle.”

The German government’s initiative to implement a unilateral seal import ban undermines the European Commission’s pursuit of a full and objective assessment to ascertain humane hunting practices, based on the public’s concern over animal welfare of hunting around the world. Seals are one of many abundant species hunted in Europe for commercial purposes. “Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greenland, Sweden and the UK all hunt seals,” states Mr. Cahill. “All of them utilize the meat, pelt and oils of the seal, except the UK, where the seal is hunted as a ‘pest’ and is discarded.” Throughout the world, seals from abundant populations are hunted, and provide important income for coastal and native peoples in Iceland, Namibia, Russia, Norway, Canada and the United States, in addition to those in Europe. Endangered populations are not hunted. It has been illegal to hunt pups since 1987.

Germany has never produced any studies on the welfare aspects of sealing practices to counter those conducted by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) and an Independent Veterinary Working Group. “Animal welfare is an important issue,” says Pierre-Yves Daoust, a member of the CVMA and frequent observer of the Canadian harp seal hunt since 1999. “It would be very useful to have access to welfare studies that have been done in Germany to establish that their hunting practices are humane. The international community would benefit greatly from such information.”

“Our members support the sustainable use of abundant wildlife species, and are opposed to import bans, which do nothing to encourage conservation or respectful treatment of animals,” says Mr. Cahill. The Institute has set up a Seals and Sealing Network to inform people of the real facts surrounding Sealing around the world. You can see more on its website at www.sealsandsealing.net.

The Seals and Sealing Network under the Fur Institute of Canada, a national non-profit organization promoting sustainable and wise use principles, is committed to the conservation and respectful harvesting of the world’s seal species through sound scientific management and internationally accepted sustainable use practices. The Seals and Sealing Network is comprised of Government, Inuit, Veterinarians, Conservationists, Health care practitioners and Industry representatives. For more information, please go to www.sealsandsealing.net.

For more information, please contact:

Robert B. Cahill, Executive Director, Fur Institute of Canada
331 Cooper Street, Suite 701, Ottawa Ontario K2P 0G5
(613) 231-7099 x 226