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Each year, seasonal workers in Canada flock to the ice floes in late March and early April to kill 300,000 young seals. The seals are clubbed to death using a hakapik. Seals are often clubbed many times before they are dead, and there is evidence of some being skinned alive.
Due to the cruelty of the trade, Belgium and Netherlands banned the import of all seal products in 2007. United States has banned the seal product trade since 1972. The European market has recently voted on the ban to seal trade. As international markets close their doors to fur seals, the industry is shifting its attention to the East. Hong Kong, the gateway for trade entering China and a cultural and fashion hub, plays a significant role in this.
According to Sandy Macalister, Executive Director of the SPCA (HK), "It is good news that seal pelts are not currently contributing to the local economy, and a call to end the trade will not take away any employment from the local job market. It will have practically no impact on Hong Kong . The SPCA (HK) simply believes that we have a duty in this matter to inform the public that through a turn of events, they now have the responsibility to decide whether the hunt continues. We hope they say no to it,"
To see the press release on "END THE SEAL HUNT – It's Hong Kong Choice" in full, [click here] |
| WARNING : This video contains images that some people may find distressing |
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