Posted on 05/27/2009 5:02:23 PM PDT by maccaca
Images of Canada's governor general chowing down on a chunk of raw seal flesh have unleashed outrage from animal welfare groups but praise from supporters of the seal hunt.
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean grossed out many Canadians when she popped a piece of bloody seal heart into her mouth during an official visit to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, on Monday.
"I'm extremely embarrassed to be associated with a governor general of my country eating raw seal meat in that manner. It's barbaric," said Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. "I wonder what the Queen would think about that."
Jean called the seal meal "delicious" and defended the Inuit hunt as a centuries-old tradition crucial to the livelihood of northern communities.
But Watson said Jean's actions and those of the federal government are "disingenuous" because they're using the Inuit as "pawns" in a campaign to restore the commercial seal hunt.
Rebecca Aldworth, director of the Humane Society International Canada, said it's "disappointing" that Jean is using her non-partisan position to express a political message. "It was ill-advised and in poor taste."
Sheryl Fink of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said it's especially disturbing because the proposed European Union ban exempts Inuit seal products.
The commercial seal hunt is not a subsistence hunt -- "it is primarily a hunt for fur with meat and blubber being discarded," said Fink.
But Liberal Sen. Celine Hervieux-Payette, a strong defender of the hunt, called Jean's actions a "generous gesture." She said cooked seal is a "delicacy" that tastes more like dark red meat than fish.
The senator is trying to add seal meat to the parliamentary restaurant menu and has even discussed it with the chef.
Er...Native Inuits eat seal every day. What a ridiculous deouble standard.
If God did not want us to eat meat, he would have made animals out of somthing else....
Meat, the first meat..
Wait a minute, is that right?
I assume all of these outraged people are vegetarians. Better yet, I assume they don’t eat anything, and are starving to death. Plants have rights too, you know.
“”I’m extremely embarrassed to be associated with a governor general of my country eating raw seal meat in that manner. It’s barbaric,” said Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “I wonder what the Queen would think about that.””
She probably prefers it cooked.
I fear that the only way these people will learn that pretty much animals are food, is if we do fall into mad max syndrome here. When you are hungry, food is good. I am loving that show on discovery, Out of the Wild. Eye opening for those folks for sure.
Tastes kinda like spotted owl...
worst. headline. ever.
While many seal hunters use rifles or very pointed axe-like devices that kill instantaneously, some others continue to bludgeon the seals for some time before their dead. It's those kinds of hunters and practices that give all hunters a bad name.
I can see Paul Watson saying this from his comfortable and fashionable flat in Toronto. He's probably never even been up North. These people need to make money somehow, and seal is what they have.
And the Queen might surprise Mr. Watson. She's not averse to a little hunting.
Yeah, it’s pretty bad, but given the way I read it at first, it’s better they weren’t eating beaver for dinner.
Is a non-resident permit available? I would love some seal on the grill or the smoker...
The sick thing is that if she popped it in her mouth and
then threw up and said this stuff is aweful, they would all
be applauding her.
Nope. It was quite tasty!
Silly people.
While the woman is the diametrical opposite of me politically, she did the correct thing here.
I never thought I’d say this, but
You GO, Madame Governor-General!
“some others continue to bludgeon the seals for some time before their dead.”
BRAVO SIERRA ! ! ! !
Your source is lyin’ to ya.
Seals have a weak cranium. Therefore a rather light blow on the head will destroy the seal brain.
The hak-a-pic is the pointed instrument you wrote about, but it also has a blunt side with a small ball and that side is used to first crush the skull of the seal.
Only after the first blow is the pointed end used to deliver a penitrating blow through the brain.
A double destruction of the seal brain is essential, both for humane reasons and because seals are a diving mammal and thus can survive for several minutes without breathing.
Should the seal have enough neurons left in the brain/hindbrain, the seal may bite by spinal reflex as the sealer grabs it.
A seal can bite through the glove and all the bones in the sealer’s hand with little effort.
The hak-a-pik ensures the seal is brain dead and reflex action is gone.
EnviroPerson lied to you.
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