of an eye-witness account of seal hunting in canada

Shock pictures: Is this what the Canadian government means by 'humane' slaughter?

Sad to say, this pitiful scene was far from unique when I visited the Canadian ice floes last weekend to see whether the introduction of new rules designed to make the country's annual seal cull "humane" have been properly implemented. Under these regulations, a pup must first be shot or battered into unconsciousness. The fisherman then has to check that an animal is fully "insensible" before slicing open the arteries near its flippers, allowing the creature to "bleed out" before it can be skinned. These rules were brought in to forestall a possible EU ban on the import of sealskins.