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Anti-Sealing Movement Losing Credibility
By Myles Higgins
Sunday, April 9, 2006

After decades of suffering the misguided and sometimes corrupt anti-sealing protests that reach Atlantic Canada every March and April, it finally looks like progress is being made in getting the truth out there. Looking back on the 2006 harvest some might even say that this season (which is only about half over) has been a turning point in that effort.

There was a time when animal rights groups like Greenpeace and others provided strong resistance to the hunt and caused great concern in this Country. That time seems to be over or at the very least the effectiveness of such groups seems to have been severely limited.

Why do I say this? Well, let’s review the animal rights campaign so far this year and see just how ineffective it’s really been. The first big offensive, launched by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), was perhaps the strongest and at first it looked like this year would see a bigger battle ensue that had happened for some time, however their campaign quickly fizzled.

HSUS began with the standard white coat photo op when they air lifted Paul and Heather McCartney to the ice flows off of PEI. This made a bit of a splash, but one that was at least partly mitigated by an on air debate with Newfoundland and Labrador’s Premier who pointed out that the McCartney’s knew so little about the situation that they didn’t even know what part of Canada they were in. Follow this with Heather McCartney’s later attempt to ban milk (that’s right, milk) from public use and much of this couple’s credibility has gone up in smoke.

The next big effort saw the geriatric and frail Brigitte Bardot arrive in Canada fully expecting that her 1960s star status would cause the doors of 24 Sussex drive to swing open so our newest Prime Minister could welcome her with open arms. Instead of a warm welcome, the misguided Bardot was relegated to holding a small press conference in her hotel before taking a long lonely back to France. Not exactly a major splash.

Next, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) found a voice in Pamela Anderson when she hosted the Canadian Juno Awards. (I suspect her selection was the doing of an ARA mole inside the Juno committee but that’s another story). How did that attack work out? Not well. After making a couple of snotty comments during her opening monologue, Ms. Anderson was nearly hooted off the stage by the audience. Instead of continuing with her political statements she then opted to gyrate around the stage half dressed for the next 2 hours, which did little to improve public perception of her intellect.

The most recent attack came from an old adversary of the harvest, even though he is a minor player. Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Society began proudly thumping his chest last week and taking credit for convincing retail giant Costco to remove seal oil products from their shelves. Now, a mere week after that announcement we learn that Costco is distancing themselves from Watson, denying (although to deaf ears in Atlantic Canada) that they ever backed him. As of Wednesday seal oil capsules are returning to Costco shelves. I wonder what Mr. Watson thinks of that?

I have to wonder what happened to the organized and sometimes effective tactics employed by such protest groups in past years. I never thought I’d actually say this but I find myself almost nostalgic for the type of battles that used to happen this time of year. It’s gotten to the point where these groups don’t even put up a real fight anymore. Instead they do themselves more harm than good, which is great for the sealing industry, but tough on those of us who like to write about the issue.

Some people believe the lack of effectiveness these groups have displayed this year is simply an aberration. Others believe it is a symptom of the fact that animal rights groups have gotten so rich playing their game that they have gotten lazy. I have another theory. I believe that groups like HSUS, Sea Shepherd and PETA have come to realize that they don’t really want the harvest to stop. Why would they? By tacitly allowing the harvest to continue, and only offering token resistance, they can ensure that the gravy train of donations they receive continues to flow unimpeded to their front doors. Not bad work if you can get it.

There are a few weeks left in this year’s harvest and maybe we’ll see some truly big offensive by one of the major groups. Somehow though I suspect we won’t. The upcoming phase of the hunt moves off the shores of Newfoundland to what is known as the Front and that poses a problem for protestors.

The Front is a much more dangerous and expensive place to operate and going there means protestors would have to spend a lot of time onboard ship. You can’t simply helicopter back to your $200 a night luxury suite at the end of the day like you can after a photo session in the Gulf area. As I see it, these groups have spent as much money as they care to this year. Any new offensive might cut further into their funding and after what’s happened so far, they’re likely concerned that another fiasco will only lower their credibility and erode the effectiveness of their real cause, fund raising.

in http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/higgins040906.htm