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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 20608
[Legal]
Date Posted:
5/6/2009
4:07:17 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 2,689
RSS: 23,435
Comments: 1
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European Law Spells End For Traditional Scottish Sporran
Author: Jenny Haworth Source: The Scotsman
Title: EUROPEAN LAW SPELLS END FOR TRADITIONAL SCOTTISH SPORRAN
European politicians yesterday spelled the end of the traditional Scottish sporran by voting to ban the sale of seal products across the continent.
The move will mean the manufacture and sale of sealskin sporrans will be illegal from next autumn. This will affect existing unsold stock and also the second-hand trade.
The vast majority of sporrans worn with the traditional Scottish national dress are made from sealskin.
Animal rights activists said there were alternatives, and suggested that most people would not want to wear a sealskin sporran if they knew the suffering caused in creating it.
However, members of the Highland dress industry hit out at the decision and said it would spell the end for the traditional Scottish sporran.
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Community Thoughts: There are 1 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| In Ignorance We Trust? | May 8th. at 8:24:41 pm EDT
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NightLad (Toronto, Ontario) - Email Me
I’m all for having an opinion. Really. But the misinformation that is being reported about seal products gets my goat. In my opinion; if you can’t advance your agenda by representing the facts and being truthful, then you’ve already lost.
Despite the fact that including whitecoat (baby) seals in the hunt has been illegal in Canada for 20 years, anti-seal hunt posters around the world depict cute little fluffy white coat seals. Just one example.
The seal population grows by over a million each year, and the quota for the hunt is capped at around 300,000. The population is still growing. When it gets too large, they eat all the native food sources and slowly starve to death. This process was noted by Charles Darwin in observing seal populations in the Galapagos. It is a cycle played out in many species the world over. Aside from this, harming the ecosystem by depleting the food sources that humans depend on is also a factor. Canadian waters are notoriously fished and drag-netted by foreign commercial vessels without jurisdiction.
This industry has been a staple for the native inhabitants for generations without the seals vanishing. And that was long before quotas and government regulation! Native Peoples are granted exemption to all sorts of things, from hunting endangered whale species to certain drug use. If you think they are going to give up the seal hunt because Europe doesn’t like it, dream on.
The financial revenue generated to non-native communities in these parts of Canada is often depended on for making ends meet. These people are often living below the poverty line. No joke. Yet none of these seal hunt protestors, even within Canada, are offering alternative solutions to help the people whose ability to feed and house their families depend on the income. Not every community has a Wal-Mart to fall back on for employment.
I question the underlying motivations of the save-the-seals people. What groups are they really representing? I can’t reconcile the thought of these organizations (many of which have sprung up quite quickly, with quite a lot of funding) stopping with seals. I’m not into conspiracy theories, so please don’t get me wrong. I just don’t think these people are stupid; it would be pointless to go after mainstream animal industries first. So they wait. Today they pass laws banning seal products, and tomorrow, or the day after, it is chickens and beef. Let’s face it, if a cow looked as good on a poster as a baby seal, their cause would probably be advancing a lot quicker. ;)
For the record, I am all for promoting vegetarianism. However, I am also a realist and the fact is that [at this point in time] it is not a feasible alternative for the vast majority of the world’s population -- even for many in developed nations.
That’s just how I see it.
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