Ban hakapiks at seal hunt, premiers tell Ottawa

[Praxius]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/04/15/hakapik-ban.html

The premiers of Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador called on the federal government Tuesday to ban the use of long, hooked clubs that they say threatens the seal industry.

"What we have decided to do today, jointly, is write the government of Canada to impose a ban on the hakapik on a permanent basis," Newfoundland and Labrador's Danny Williams said at a news briefing with Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik in St. John's.

Williams and Okalik described the hakapik, which is primarily used by sealers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, as the single biggest image problem for the Canadian seal hunt.

Okalik said the move to ban the hakapik is an attempt to sway the European Union from banning seal products in an upcoming vote in June.

Okalik told reporters that the image of sealers using the hakapik is used continually by activists campaigning against the hunt, even though a minority of sealers use it.

Okalik said some of the European parliamentarians he has spoken with have told him that if Canada gets rid of the hakapik, they will not support a ban on Canadian seal products.

Williams raised his opposition to the hakapik in 2006, citing the "visual image" that the weapon gives opponents of the hunt.

Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said at that time that he was open to considering a ban, but he could not see clear alternatives.

Most of the seals killed each year in Canada are taken off the coast of Newfoundland, where hunters use rifles.

Gee, there's your clear alternative..... rifles? Remember those things? A decendant from the Musket??

 

[#juan]

Just a few years ago I was in Newfoundland. While I was there I talked to seal hunters because I was interested in what was going on. The hakapik is a weighted spike on a wooden handle that is driven into the brain of the seal. It is probably the most reliable, and most humane method of killing seals. Seals shot and wounded tend to disappear into the water and die a rather miserable death. It would be great if the seal hunters could manage a perfect brain shot with a rifle every time but they can't.

 

[karrie]

Oh that's disgusting. The hakapik is way more humane than most people's aims with a rifle are. Silly people, let's let some image get in the way of what truly works best. Just because you can't see the damage a bullet does, doesn't mean it's anymore humane. It's the exact same thing as the hakapik, only on the inside, hidden behind that entrance wound. And the wound is rarely where it ought to be because few people are good enough shots.

Morons.

 

[Praxius]

Just a few years ago I was in Newfoundland. While I was there I talked to seal hunters because I was interested in what was going on. The hakapik is a weighted spike on a wooden handle that is driven into the brain of the seal. It is probably the most reliable, and most humane method of killing seals. Seals shot and wounded tend to disappear into the water and die a rather miserable death. It would be great if the seal hunters could manage a perfect brain shot with a rifle every time but they can't.

Technically I agree with what you are saying, but as it goes for PR relations around the world towards those ignorant of the above facts, something should be used as an alternative I suppose, in regards to best interests for all.

A rifle shot may not get a direct skull hit, but sometimes you miss with the Hakapik while the seal is moving and you drive it into their back or eye, or elsewhere and then have to keep "Haking" them until you hit the skull or they stop moving.

Nothing is all that perfect when it comes to killing, that's why we have so many ways of executing convicts around the world. But perhaps they need to find a more "Camera Friendly" tool to use then the below:

I agree it is an effective tool/weapon for the job, but as it goes for image, perhaps something like this should be used:

*punk'chink* Hole in the head, problem solved.

 

[karrie]

Nothing is all that perfect when it comes to killing, that's why we have so many ways of executing convicts around the world. But perhaps they need to find a more "Camera Friendly" tool to use then the below:

How about using a version of what I've been told is used in the slaughter houses? A pneumatic slug that penetrates the brain and then goes back into the 'gun'. Like the hakapik but without the need to swing. Good luck making a travel version though. I have images of hunters toddling along rolling their air compressors behind them. lol.

edited to add... um... Prax, apparently had the same thinking, but I swear, that part of his post wasn't there when I posted. *scratches head in mild confusion*

 

[Praxius]

lol, yeah things pop into my head usually a few seconds after I post and I try to add or edit quickly before someone clicks into the thread..... you are correct it wasn't there originally, but I think I added it as you were posting in reponse to my original post before edit..... er... if that makes any sense.

 

[karrie]

lol, yeah things pop into my head usually a few seconds after I post and I try to add or edit quickly before someone clicks into the thread..... you are correct it wasn't there originally, but I think I added it as you were posting in reponse to my original post before edit..... er... if that makes any sense.

total sense. By the time I'd posted my post, you'd added it.

 

[Colpy]

There used to be something called a "humane horse killer" which was a single shot firearm that was fired by jamming the muzzle against the head........a little hard to miss at contact range.....same as the pneumatic slaughter guns, only using bullets instead of a spike....

Unfortunately, one would have to worry about over-penetration and richocets off the ice, very likely hitting a sealer......of course, according to Paul Watson, that would be much less of a tragedy than it hitting the seal.

Next time, let's just use one of those subs and anonymously torpedo the Farley Mowat.

 

[Zzarchov]

We could just take it to the WTO and block European imports as cruel.

Or spend the money on a PR campaign.

 

[#juan]

There used to be something called a "humane horse killer" which was a single shot firearm that was fired by jamming the muzzle against the head........a little hard to miss at contact range.....same as the pneumatic slaughter guns, only using bullets instead of a spike....

Unfortunately, one would have to worry about over-penetration and richocets off the ice, very likely hitting a sealer......of course, according to Paul Watson, that would be much less of a tragedy than it hitting the seal.

Next time, let's just use one of those subs and anonymously torpedo the Farley Mowat.

Watson is a numbskull. The damn seal hunt has been going on for the best part of four hundred years. The seal population is either stable or it's increasing so they are not killing off the seals. Maybe Watson should picket Colonel Sanders because all those chickens are killed just as wantonly as the seals and he need'nt even get his feet wet.

 

[karrie]

Watson is a numbskull. The damn seal hunt has been going on for the best part of four hundred years. The seal population is either stable or it's increasing so they are not killing off the seals. Maybe Watson should picket Colonel Sanders because all those chickens are killed just as wantonly as the seals and he need'nt even get his feet wet.

yeah, but chickens aren't cute, so who cares how much torture they endure?

 

[Zzarchov]

Neither are seals, just baby seals. And baby chickens are pretty damn cute too.

 

[karrie]

Neither are seals, just baby seals. And baby chickens are pretty damn cute too.

We used to pop the baby chicks' little heads with big rocks when they were sick. I bet that would have pissed off animal rights activists to no end. A quick end sure, but much too gory. We should have probably found a less reliable way that looked better.

 

[Praxius]

Next time, let's just use one of those subs and anonymously torpedo the Farley Mowat.

That's one way to put our subs to some use.... um.... if they are safe to use yet.

 

[#juan]

We used to pop the baby chicks' little heads with big rocks when they were sick. I bet that would have pissed off animal rights activists to no end. A quick end sure, but much too gory. We should have probably found a less reliable way that looked better.

And therein lies the crux, How about a needle injection overdose of Sodium pentathol, or insulin....Of course you'd have to get really close........We could use a dart gun like Marlin Perkins.....Hey!, I think we are onto something.......:roll::lol:

 

[Praxius]

And therein lies the crux, How about a needle injection overdose of Sodium pentathol, or insulin....Of course you'd have to get really close........We could use a dart gun like Marlin Perkins.....Hey!, I think we are onto something.......:roll::lol:

If you can penitrate the blubber with a needle go right ahead.....

But lethal injections are not proven to be humane either. Remember those cases in the US where to took forever for the convict to die on the table and they had to keep injecting him?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501499.html

"....Gov. Jeb Bush (R) ordered the suspension in Florida after a botched execution in which it took 34 minutes and a second injection to kill convicted murderer Angel Nieves Diaz. A state medical examiner said that needles used to carry the poison had passed through the prisoner's veins and delivered the three-chemical mix into the tissues of his arm.

In California, a federal judge ruled that the state must overhaul its lethal-injection procedures, calling its current protocol unconstitutional because it may inflict unacceptable levels of pain....."

Plus you have to deal with the costs of the chemicals to inject them with.... plus don't forget people do eat the meat on seals in some locations/areas..... would the meat still be edible after chemicals are shot into their bodies?

Basically you'll still have a headache from activists over injections too.

How about a big Machete and lop their heads off?

No wait, more blood then with the Hak.... never mind.

Hunt them with big feather pillows and soffocate them.