Francois Hugo, of Seal Alert-South Africa, has been waging a campaign to stop seal slaughter in South Africa, the last large-scale sanctioned seal clubbing in the world. Today, after trying but failing to stop this year cull, he has his say in Amy Lou Jenkins', Green Living Examiner column. Hugo has been leading activism against the cull, where harvesters target pups by first rounding them up on the beach. Then they raise a club and swing away and stab them in the heart while the pups cry, shudder, bleed, vomit mothers' milk, and finally die. The process is not brief. The Namibia government and department of fisheries has adopted an common, but outdated human point of view where predators are seen as enemies. Since the seals eat fish, Namibia won't stop the cull, thinking the fisheries will have more fish. This approach shows a failure to understand a healthy ecosystem. One person owns the right to kill and harvest the seals. To date, less than 2000 people have signed the petition against the slaughter of the Cape fur seal.
A guest editorial from an angry Francious Hugo:
Namibian SPCA says of the annual slaughter of seals, "It is no exaggeration of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) when they say observing seal culling is an awful business. It is as ghastly as when taking the life of a human, with soul-piercing grunts of pain that accompany the misery of dying".
Yet the SPCA offers no attempt to stop this under the Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act.
Sub Editor of the Namibian (newspaper) Rob Parker says, "Let me say at the outset that I think that the seal cull should be done in a humane way or stopped completely. Those are the only two options." Full stop. Nobody supports the clubbing of seals- nobody.
Yet Namibians have just slaughtered close to 100,000 seals, beating them to death, almost all pups for what, and with little or no opposition from within Namibia.
Why is average Namibians not talking out about this barbaric practice?
Why is it ok for trophy hunters to film themselves bow and arrow hunting seals while the Minister of Fisheries prevents independent observation or filming of annual seal harvest under government controlled regulations ?
I have never read a single media report of a single Namibian rescuing or helping a dying seal. Tens of thousands of seals are dying on your beaches every year, yet Namibians show no compassion for the suffering.
Namibia has one of the most productive fisheries in the world, uranium deposits, tin and 80% of the world's gem diamonds and possibly vast oil reserves offshore? They don't need to slaughter seals.
One minute Namibian's welcome foreign tourists with open arms eager to snatch their tourist dollars and the moment one talks out about the cruel seal clubbing, suddenly you are an unwelcome threat to national security being accused of being a rich white foreigner with Al Qaeda links meddling in the affairs of a sovereign state
Xenophobic assalt
Xenophobia is an unreasonable fear, distrust, or hatred of strangers, foreigners, or anything perceived as foreign or different. Xenophobia can manifest itself in several ways in a country - victimization by police, brutal assaults, murders, ethnic cleansing in an area, mass expulsion from the country. The phobia applies to the secret hidden annual Namibian seal slaughter.
Those making money from the seals fail to protect them
Why are tourism organizations like Mola-Mola tours, whose youtube clips are full of tourists feeding and enjoying seals and who are earning millions taking tourists to see these unique sea mammals, silent on clubbing baby seals? Or wildlife conservation group's like Namibian Coast Conservation and Management project (NACOMA) who received funding to construct the seal-viewing walkway at Cape Cross for the specific intention to stop tourists disturbing seals, but are silent on Namibian sealers beating thousands to death on the same colony an hour before tourists arrive?
Tthe Minister of Tourism who earns millions of dollars charging tourists to see seals at one of his most profitable game parks, is silent about any opposition to the seal slaughter or sealers coming onto his protected seal reserve state land. Meanwhile he asks the public to help protect seal.
It really makes no sense.
Inconsistancies
How is it that Namibian's sealers have smuggled seal skins into the United States, South Africa and Taiwan and where importers were arrested and convicted, but Namibian's sealers continue beyond the law. How it is that Namibian's largest employer and contributor to GDP allows sealers with proven connections to convicted smugglers to enter the diamond restricted area on a daily basis for half the year unopposed?
All De Beers (Marine mining company) can say in regard to protecting 80% of the gem diamonds mined in the area is that he offers no assistance to the sealers. What about speaking up that De Beers considers this a serious security risk?
We all know seals eat fish, so does fish eat fish, yet I hear no Namibian culling fish.
Even the Namibian Ombudsman felt the legal opinion, calling the cull illegal, had merit, He has a legal background as former Attorney-General to consider approaching the high court for an urgent applicant to stop the harvest. After he met with Namibia, his action was stalled. Two months later he is still conducting his 'own independent investigation.'
Shame
Seriously Namibia : Shame on you for your xenophobic approach to seals, that were there long before you Namibian humans.
For the Seals
Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA
Contributed by Francois Hugo. Remarks reflect the opinion of Francois Hugo. See Seal Alert's petition to stop the slaughter.
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