Huge Seal Hunt Draws Charges of Barbarism
About 12,000 sealers armed with rifles and spears headed for the ice floes and islands off eastern Canada in the world’s largest seal hunt, followed by protesters condemning the $20-million harvest as barbaric.
Hunters are allowed to kill 350,000 young seals this year, the most since quotas were imposed in the 1960s. The harp seal population is growing at 5.2 million and pelts are garnering record prices of about $50.
The government banned the killing of pups under 12 days old -- when their fur changes from white to gray -- and has implemented rules to make the hunt more humane.
But Humane Society spokesman Nicholas Braden said 40% of the seals were still alive while being skinned.
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