A Promising Spring for Seals?
The news for Canada’s harp seals this coming spring shows some promise. Not because of anything Canada’s government has done, but in spite of it.
The European Union is expected to ban commercial seal products. As our readers know, we’re talking about the largest systematic attack on free-living animals anywhere in the world in the name of commerce.
Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral said, “The Canadian government is still fused to that relic of a bygone era known as the fur industry. So much so, that non-profits in Canada are shy about agitating against fur. But the outcry in Europe is having its effect and is poised to set an important example.”
Cutting off the market in Europe would represent a giant hurdle for the Canadian government in its yearly ploy to slaughter seals by the tens of thousands off the coast of Newfoundland.
The Canadian government is challenging the EU legislation, delaying the enactment that was expected on 20 August. The European Commission has heard the arguments from the Canadian officials’ side. Prime Minister Harper, Fisheries Minister Shea and other Canadian representatives cannot possibly have anything new to say, and we hope they aren’t going to delay the progress much longer.
Said Feral, “We’re gratified that seal killers will now have less incentive to plunder seal pups and horrify their mothers.”
To solidify this into an animal-rights advance, advocates within Canada must exert pressure on the Canadian government. We would love to hear from people in Canada regarding efforts while the iron is hot.
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On September 4, 2010, Dee Hillier wrote:
According to Buddhist teaching, human beings do not have a privileged, special place above and beyond that of the rest of life. The world is not a creation specifically for the benefit and pleasure of human beings. Furthermore, in some circumstances according with their karma, humans can be reborn as humans and animals can be reborn as humans. In Buddhism the most fundamental guideline for conduct is ahimsa - the prohibition against the bringing of harm and/or death to any living being.
We should nurture compassionate thought. Since we wish to live, we should not kill any other living being. Furthermore, the karma of killing is understood as the root of all suffering and the fundamental cause of sickness and war, and the forces of killing are explicitly identified with the demonic. The highest and most universal ideal of Buddhism is to work unceasingly for permanent end to the suffering of all living beings, not just humans.