The Hunting, Sporting Life

The hypocrisy of the European Union, the environmental groups, the animal rights activists is so blatantly evident, but obviously beyond their notice. Their sanctimonious hounding of Canada for engaging in the traditional seal hunt as an unacceptable, inhumane and intolerable practise insulting to their sensibilities and therefore needful of a huge campaign to discredit Canada and to refuse importation of seal products may make them feel good about themselves, but it also points out just how absurd they are in their egotistical self-congratulatory group hug.

Canada's and Greenland's Inuit have appealed to the European Court of Justice to suspend the EU ban on seal products. And, surprisingly, perhaps not quite gratifyingly, since it represents a suspension and not a retraction of purpose, it was agreed that a suspension would be implemented. The ban will likely be imposed eventually. Simply because the animal rights groups have been working so strenuously over such a prolonged period of time, enlisting the eager assistance of 'celebrities' in their zeal to overturn centuries-old hunting processes for Inuit and Newfoundlanders.

Activists and the urban animal rights groups whose unremitting dedication to the cessation of harvesting of seals, will not be pleased at the delay. Their declaration of the seal hunt as a barbaric practise, and those who do the hunting as savages speaks volumes about their ignorance. Humanity harvests plants and animals for consumption. Just as animals other than humankind hunt other animals for their ongoing existence as carnivores or omnivores. We will never all succumb to the allure of vegetarianism.

Historically within Canada it took great courage, skill, brute strength, perseverance and determination to succeed in harvesting seals. The harvest also guaranteed that Inuit villagers would live to see another season. It was hunt successfully or perish. Many hunters did perish, unequal to the battle of the sea ice and the vicissitudes of weather conditions. This was no sport, this was a necessity of life's prolongation; hunt or starve to death.

Whereas force-feeding geese to produce a delicacy on a gourmand's dinner table is no necessity. Hunting rhinoceros to obtain the bone for traditional Chinese pharmaceuticals is questionable in its efficacy. Above all, the proud old tradition of posing the brute force of a massive beast against the cunning and cleverly acrobatic manoeuvres of a man whose profession is to give pleasure to a witnessing public through outsmarting the beast and causing its death, is a true travesty.

Bull fighting in Spain, Portugal, France, Latin America and Mexico, is seen as a sublime 'sport'. Far more refined and certainly urbane than hunting to fulfill an existential need. The graceful carriage of the matador and the picador, as opposed to the lumbering brute force of the beast is a delight to those for whom the theatre of man-and-beast represents the highest order of entertainment.

A plague on those houses.