Clemencia Jacobs
10 July 2009
column
Windhoek — I do not represent the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Neither am I a 'tree hugger' nor any other name that people call those that care for the wellbeing of the environment.
I am not even one of those people who will share living space with five cats, two dogs and a bunny. You have to be insane to do that.
However, I think killing animals just for the hell of it is even worse. A friend showed me a video of puppies being skinned alive for their fur in China. According to these people, skinning live animals will allow for a "perfect cut." Only they know what that means.
In the video, after slaughtering the puppies, they are tossed onto a pile where they are left to die. Watching this video made me angry. Actually it made me stark, raving mad! It is beyond my comprehension why people are so cruel. What pleasure can you possibly derive from killing another life being? Why do we have this total disregard for life? But if picking up a gun or knife to kill another human being is as easy as one, two, three; it's probably isn't much of a issue to kill a cat or a dog.
There are those who will argue that cows and sheep go through the same agony when they are slaughtered for their meat. So why is it only a big issue when other animals are killed?
If you slaughter a goat because you are hungry and there is nothing else to eat, it is not as dead wrong as killing animals because you are bored, you want a trophy for the best hunt or just for the fun of it.
I do not know if the seal hunting season, which is currently under way in the country, is done for fun, but I certainly find it tasteless. The seal hunting season, which kicked off on the first of this month, has caused some controversy. Animal rights activists argue that the 'culling' of seal pups is cruel as these animals are near extinction all over the world.
When Europe, the main buyer of seal products from Canada, banned the trade in May this year, many believed it spelt the beginning of the end for the slaughter. The ban, which will be effective as from October, came following calls by animal rights groups to end the hunting.
The seal hunt in Canada had been set at 273,000 this year, but only 70 000 were killed.
Namibia has granted a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 85 000 pups and 6 000 bulls. According to Seal-Alert SA, the seal business in Namibia is dead as there is no market for fashion goods or fur.
If you think about it, if there was no market for seal products, why would Government allow for so many animals to be killed? Are we just thinking about how much money we can make from tourists who come to participate in the ultimate hunt each year?
Government argues that seal hunting is done in line with the principles of sustainable management and is indeed guided by the Namibian Constitution.
Government also argues that the seal industry provides a number of people with employment.
So I guess there are two extremes and we will have to choose one in the end. We can 'sustainable manage' seals which will result in their extinction eventually. Or we can stop the harvesting of seals, which will further contribute to the already high unemployment rate in the country. Either way, we lose.
Seal-Alert SA has offered to buy Namibia's seal industry out for US$14 million, an offer that is still to be accepted by Government.
In response to Seal Alert's claims that Namibia's seals were close to extinction, Moses Maurihungirire, director of resource management at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, said the organisation is just trying to raise funds for itself by spreading lies about the way in which seals are harvested in the country.
I think it is the public's choice who to believe. But I have already made up my mind... I wouldn't hug a seal; I wouldn't even come close to it. Just the thought of it makes me want to faint. But killing one of these hasn't crossed my mind and never will...
I am trying to say please do not kill seals. Now you can call be a tree hugger or should I say a 'seal hugger'?
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Namibia Economist. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
