I can't say what the animal rights activists would have to say about "ranching" seals like cattle, but I would think it would be considered somewhat preferable to going out into their wilderness habitat & beating their brains out.

And as far as the hakapik is concerned, I'm pretty sure it's not uncommon to slightly miss the optimum spot on the skull & deliver a glancing blow because the animal moved it's head at the last instant maybe more than once, causing a couple of more painful, non-lethal blows to be administered before the animal is dead.

I read in Wikipedia where it was asserted that many seal hunters don't like shooting because of the possibility of only wounding them & causing them to escape back into the water to die slowly.

If you can get close enough to a seal to hit it on the head with a club, you are close enough to put the muzzle of a rifle or a pistol to it's head & not miss.

*cautiously sneaks up on Luap, using stealth and his pirate wits and bonks him on the noggin'*


matey...either yer just pretendin' to not understand, or ya be tryin' to provoke a response, either way, i'll try'n help ya me friend!

seals be cuddly creatures with soulful eyes and a mirthful lookin' way 'o life!

that is why here in our ports, we feel a sense 'o discomfort (and aye, revulsion) when we see these animals slaughtered with what looks to be pickaxes.

think about it, matey.

how would you feel seein' videos from china of folks joyfully clubbing young pandas to death?

how about aussie's jumpin' joyfully outta minivans, armed with baseball bats, chasing down koalas and beating them senseless?

do you really, honestly and truthfully, expect normal human beings to have the same sense of outrage when we swat a mosquito?

aye?

-MeadHallPirate

If you're getting close enough to make physical contact with the prey and using firearms, it becomes to dangerous to have more than one hunter in the field because of accidentally shooting other people.

I actually have a problem with using anything that can demonstrate a notable capacity for compassion for food, but I don't see this as being any different from the slaughter of other semi intelligent animals.

__________________
During the journey we commonly forget its goal. Almost every profession is chosen as a means to an end but continued as an end in itself. Forgetting our objectives is the most frequent act of stupidity.
-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Wanderer and his Shadow

All good socialists have villas in Southern France. That's not the point.
-Eurosocialist

I wonder how do they taste? I'd imagine like chicken? I'd like to club one myself and then eat it. I'd make a nice fur hat with the pelt.

__________________
I think at this point there needs to be a focus on an immediate increase in spending and I think this is a time when deficit fear has to take a second seat . . . I believe later on there should be tax increases. Speaking personally, I think there are a lot of very rich people out there whom we can tax at a point down the road and recover some of the money."
-- Barney Frank, October 20, 2008

*sails up to alex's sunlamp and blasts it to smithereens*

*shrugs and scratches his head*

i really don't understand the point 'o this post. contributes nothin'. adds nothin'. says nothin'.

what does it really mean?

"fuck animals"?

"worrying about the welfare of anything that can't stand up for itself is for pansies"?

"folks that give thought to the well being of animals are beneath contempt"?

matey, i live in the real world, just like you. i understand that animals are here to serve our needs, thats their lot in life. if they do not find some kinda way to endear themselves to us, then they may be slaughtered, or abused in any number of ways.

i can live with that. aye, thats the way it is. i like me leather jacket and i enjoy a good cut 'o meat as much as the next fella.

what i don't understand though, is this kinda celebration of our cruelty. if this was some kinda attempt at humor....well....

fail.



-MeadHallPirate

I might be the only one to be able to accurately say this, but seals have ravaged hundreds of salmon from the mouths of my family and thousands of dollars from my pockets by raiding my fishing nets.

I would ask the question if it is more humane for them to die quickly by the hands of a human with a club or a rifle or by the teeth and claws of a polar bear?

__________________
Abstinence Education at its finest:

Trust me I know first hand, when I think of seal meat, the last taste I would compare it to is chicken or really any farm raised meat in America. Very unique taste and texture...really interesting texture. Quite chewy. Not my favorite, but edible...many people call it an aquired taste.

Last summer I had a greenhorn working on my boat and he reacted as if he had epicac after eating seal if you know what I mean.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

I wasn't really pretending to not understand, I was just curious about what standards we apply to 'slaughterable' animals and 'unslaughterable' animals. Animals that look nice and don't annoy us are off limits, but other life forms that are ugly or bothersome are fair game. That said, I wouldn't really expect it any other way, and I'm not immune to that favoritism either. I can squish bugs with a clear conscience, but not kick a dog or club a seal. Then again, clubbing seals wouldn't feed my family, as I'm not in a situation like the hunters in question.

__________________
No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne

Ooooooooooohhhhhh!!!!!! That provocative post of yours just got us all so outraged!!!!!!

Missioin Accomplished there..... "George".

How many salmon can your family fit into their mouths, anyway?

Hundreds seems like a lot.

But seriously......

I personally am not against seal hunting per se, just the barbaric way it's done.

Not true at all. Hunters go out in the woods together in groups all the time in close proximity with a minimum of accidents. Not counting Dick Cheney, of course. But he was drunk, so that's different.

But as I said, if you're close enough to an animal to hit it with a club, you're close enough to put the muzzle of a gun to it's head.

How the hell could anyone accidentally shoot someone fifty feet off to one side of them while pointing their gun straight down an inch away from the top of a seal's head? The bullet would pass through & go straight into the snow or ice or whatever was underneath them.

*salutes Luap*

fair enough matey, i pretty much agree with ya here.

AHOY!!!!!!!

-MeadHallPirate

I am not attempting to be funny. I simply have no problem with killing and eating animals. Is it cruel to kill a cow, pig, fish, or chicken?

I'd also like a new fur hat and I understand that the pelts of baby seals make very good hats.

__________________
I think at this point there needs to be a focus on an immediate increase in spending and I think this is a time when deficit fear has to take a second seat . . . I believe later on there should be tax increases. Speaking personally, I think there are a lot of very rich people out there whom we can tax at a point down the road and recover some of the money."
-- Barney Frank, October 20, 2008

It is still something I'd like to try, at least once.

__________________
I think at this point there needs to be a focus on an immediate increase in spending and I think this is a time when deficit fear has to take a second seat . . . I believe later on there should be tax increases. Speaking personally, I think there are a lot of very rich people out there whom we can tax at a point down the road and recover some of the money."
-- Barney Frank, October 20, 2008