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European Union. Ban on Canadian Seal Products. May 2009. The Market is Closed.

Some great news from across the pond. So great you could almost hear the seals bark in joyous symphony. Today, the European Union officially said NO to all products stemming from the cruel Canadian seal hunts that have irrevocably stained that country's reputation. We've heard about this rejection for some time now, but now it has become official. Those seal hunters will just have to find a real job with real skills, like landscaping a frozen tundra. No more hacking away at innocent, sentient beings; no more wading in the warm blood of freshly killed seals. How lucky of them! Not all murderers get a second chance in life. I am sure that in the future these hunters will present themselves as involuntary participants in this most cruel business, just following orders, just earning a living, all those lame excuses.

Let's do some math, shall we? According to the Humane Society International, the price of canadian seal fur declined 86% since 2006 to $ 15 per skin, and that's just from the news of EU's impending ban against the business. This year's kill is also down at 57,622 when the quota allows for 338,200. According to HSI, many of the hunters have simly opted to stay home because it wasn't cost effective to hunt at those prices. The Humane Society of the United States tells us that the industry will lose approx. $6.6 million each year and last year's hunt earned only $7 million. So, it looks like hunting seals will no longer provide the profits that made the business viable.
So, somehow and at some time, the good guys do win and the bad guys go down in flames although this all seems like a pyrric victory to me.

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