EU considering steps on seal hunt

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Source: BBC

The European Union is considering taking measures against Canada over its annual seal hunt.

Spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich said the EU's Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas "is looking into the matter of the inhumane killing of seals".

The hunt starts later this week, off Canada's Atlantic coast.

One option for the EU would be a ban on seal imports, although there was no sign that this was under immediate consideration.

Belgium and the Netherlands have already taken this step, and the United States has banned Canadian seal products since 1972.


Canada has raised the limit of this year's catch to 275,000 seals

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7314903.stm

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1. European Food Safety Authority report: seal cull "inhumane"

http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=224351

snip> The EFSA opinion concludes that seals should be recognized as sentient marine mammals that can experience pain, distress, fear, and other forms of suffering - not fish, as they are classified in Canada. It also recommends that seals should be protected from killing and skinning practices that cause them pain, distress, and avoidable suffering.