Have a Heart Michaëlle, I mean, Really, Have a heart

A week or so ago Michaëlle Jean, Canada’s Governor General, started a fervor when she ate a piece of raw baby seal heart during a traditional Innuit feast. The act has sparked everything from anger from animal rights activists to pride in our country and our Governor General from down home rednecks like yours truly. Everyone has jumped into the fray including Paul and Linda McCartney of Beatles fame.

In past years Paul and Linda have been seen laying on the ice during the annual seal hunt extolling the plight of the poor baby seals that they consider are being brutally murdered. They have even gone as far as comparing them to human babies in their zeal to bring their plight to the international stage.

So what’s it all about? Is it really about cruelty to animals? Is it about arachic killing methods or is it about warm fuzzy feelings towards a certain species? It’s interesting to note that the greater portion of the protest is coming out of Hollywood. Most of the protesters being entertainers such as Paul McCartney and Heather Mills McCartney, Brigitte Bardot, Morrissey, Rolf Harris, Richard Dean Anderson, Charles Aznavour, Kim Basinger, Juliette Binoche, Pamela Anderson, Martin Sheen, Mogwai (band), Pierce Brosnan, Paris Hilton, Sara Quin, Loretta Swit, Rutger Hauer, John Paul DeJoria, Ed Begley, Jr., Dave Foreman, Farley Mowat, Linda Blair, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. These I’m sure all have degrees in animal conservation. Although I love watching them on TV and the big screen, I believe that for the best part the majority of them don’t have a clue about the real world that the rest of us smucks have to live in.

I did a bit of digging around on the internet just to get a feel of what others are thinking of the situation. I found a blog site with a comment that pretty well sums up the mentality of people living in large cities that have no idea where food actually comes from:
Seriously! Why don't they just go to Fisherman's Market or Rubio's!? That's soooo gross! That poor baby seal! Why did those dumb mean Eskimos have to do icky stuff like this?? Gahl! Stephanie, Torrance, USA

Well Steph, what about the chicken, pork, beef, veal, or whatever it is that you consume, where in the heck did you think that it comes from? What about the two sunnyside up chicken embryos with a side of sliced fried pork belly you had for breakfast this morning?

Do you suppose it all just comes from some big factory where it grows in big vats and it is shaped and formed and put into packages for your convenience? No Steph, it all comes from some poor dumb animal that was killed just so that you and those like you can eat and be dressed. Is it done humanly? Take a trip to a commercial killing plant sometime and open your eyes to the real world. We are carnivores of the highest order, as a matter of fact if you check the food chain, you will see your own smiling face at the top of the heap.

Did anyone ever wonder what the reaction to the seal hunt would be if they, the seals, actually looked like toads instead of cute furry little critters with big soulful eyes? I can tell you that no one would care. As a matter of fact on March 29th of this year there was a mass killing of cane toads in Queensland, Australia. The toads are a nuisance and in an effort to control the situation, even school kids were enrolled in the toad round-up. Prizes were given out for the largest number of toads gathered. The toads were then killed and ground up to be used as fertilizer in the sugar cane fields. No one batted an eye, not one comment was made in defense of the toad.

It’s all about emotion and nothing else. The seals are cute, so it goes to reason that they have to be saved. Toad are gross so kill them. While most of those on the emotional side of the coin have little or no conservation background or knowledge, I found one who has considerable. Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997) was renowned worldwide as a pioneer of marine conservation. He had this to say in regard to the seal hunt protest, "The harp seal question is entirely emotional. We have to be logical. We have to aim our activity first to the endangered species. Those who are moved by the plight of the harp seal could also be moved by the plight of the pig - the way they are slaughtered is horrible." There is talk that our Governor General will be participating in an actual harp seal hunt during the next season, I only have this to say: “Club one for me Michaëlle.”