The main course at today's Canadian parliamentary luncheon — "double-smoked bacon-wrapped seal loin" — came with a steaming side of controversy. The photo-op meal was organized to protest the EU's recent decision to ban seal hunting, a practice often described as "barbaric," in which hunters bludgeon the slow-moving mammals with a claw-shaped tool called a hakapik. Canada's government believes the ban will both lead to seal overpopulation, throwing off the global eco-balance, and devastate the Canadian seal-hunting economy. Should seal be served? (Watch the Canadian parliament debate the ethics of seal hunting)
All cruelty to animals is equal: Yes, death by hakapik sounds horrifying, says Chris in Paris at AmericaBlog, but it's no less repulsive than what happens everyday at American slaughterhouses. It's practically impossible to kill an animal painlessly. To take a real stand against the cruelty associated with animal slaughter, you have to become a vegetarian.
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