Friday, January 21, 2011

As the 2011 Seal Hunt Approaches Protests Escalates

Léonce Arseneau

A complaint has been filed with the Quebec Police Force, Sûreté du Québec Îles-de-la-Madeleine, by certain members of the Madelinot Community. The problem has arrived with the FaceBook Group Page called “La Chasse aux phoques, stop aux mensonges”, (The seal hunt, stop the lies). The complaint alleges that anti-seal hunt activists have made online threats to kill them and their families.

The justified evidence that is now in the hands of the investigators are emails sent to the administrators of the Group Page and messages posted to discussion boards and social networking websites.

Everything is in the hands of investigators from Quebec provincial police," said island resident Léonce Arsenault, who has founded a pro-seal hunt page on Facebook.

Mr. Arseneau had said that some of the alleged threats called for the seal hunters to be slaughtered.

"Some dead sealers? I want to see it again and again and again," read one post from an anonymous writer. The poster welcomed the death of four Quebec sealers who died during a botched coast guard towing operation in 2008.

"Lots of sealers blood everywhere, everywhere, everywhere," the post said.

The Magdalen Islander has also provided police with comments posted on Facebook.

"Quick ... we're organizing a massacre of seal killers. Who wants to participate?" said one post.

"Their family members should be killed in the same (way) while they watch," another activist wrote in a forum.
Arsenault said the violent postings constitute propaganda that could influence people to act. "They're trying to demonize a group, in this case seal hunters and islanders," said Arsenault. "They're inciting violence. This is serious."

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I think slaughtering the seal hunters is a fantastic idea ! Let's get this organized and give them a taste of their own medicine.

Magdalen Islands said...

Be very careful here, Josh or I'll have to delete your comment. We are all guilty of killing some of God's creatures. I myself do wonders on mosquitoes every year. I think of pigs, chickens, and veal (baby calves) killed for food and I get disgusted. Those animals are not free range. They don't have a life, but they live.-
Now you are talking about 95% of the world's population who eat meat or would if they could get their hands on meat. Do you think you could survive those odds. Do you eat meat, insects or most other available proteins?
I would never willingly harm one of those animals but they are harming me. I love codfish and seal have been implicated in the moratorium on the fish. I don't eat seal but I've tasted it and it is good. I made the choice not to eat anything from the wild. I was my choice but it was not necessarily the right choice because our domestic animals suffer far more than an animal living free.

Magdalen Islands said...

Be careful about starting violent thoughts and conflicts here. It is obvious that I won't hesitate letting the hunters know where their enemies are or letting the police force investigate my blog electronically. Remember your IP addresses are scanned here at blogger for whatever that is worth.

Magdalen Islands said...

joshbern1 said...
I think slaughtering the seal hunters is a fantastic idea ! Let's get this organized and give them a taste of their own medicine.

7 February, 2011 1:26 AM

Magdalen Islands said...

Josh's IP address is on file and his hate message has been registered. What goes on the internet, stays on the internet.
This is a form of home grown terrorism..., I wonder if he was promised 72 virgins for spreading hate.
It is a shame you know, that people feel such hate.

Magdalen Islands said...

And you know what is even more ironic..., it is the anti-sealers who are aiding the seal hunt by forcing the sealers to find more markets..., markets who don't care how the animals are killed. If the ice comes that the sealers are going to make good this year.
The anti-sealers aren't very smart. There is a way to stop the seal hunt in relatively no time at all. But they can't see that they are causing people to stand up and fight for their rights and causing a majority of quiet others to support the hunt.

I feel for the little animals.

Unknown said...

The is a message for josh bern. Listen buddy, you are clearly uneducated and need some medical help. I think it would be great if you were a seal and one of them fishermen put the old club upside your head. Get a hold of reality, silly goose

Magdalen Islands said...

I agree with you, Bradley that Josh is not educated. He is probably a child, a teen since he has wrote in a childish fashion. But even educated people have these unbalanced ideas, I find.

I don't agree with the seal hunt and I've never said I did. But I don't condone violence in any form. I don't wear seal products or any wild animal products at all. I try to stay away from animal products but I find plastic footwear is really hard on the feet. I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan but I could be very easily.

Quite frankly with all the additives in the meat, (hormones, antibiotics, steriods, etc.) meat in general is downright tasteless. I could easily pass a hamburger, steak, porkchop or piece of chicken by.

But that doesn't make me right or give me the right to threaten someone else for partaking in an activity which I don't agree with. If it did, lol, chicken farms wouldn't exist, amongst others.

Unknown said...

Just to set the record strait, I on the other hand support the seal hunt. It has been part of the Madelinot culture for hundreds of years. I have lived in Les iles and have embraced it wonderful culture for the last 9 summers and a full year in 2001. As the madelinot say j'ai besion mon dose des ILes. I at one time I was against the seal hunt. Now after living with the people and experiencing their way life and being brought into their homes and excepted. I have learned that this tradition is part of a people, who respect the sea and all the creaturs that use it as a resource or a home. I beleive this tradition should exist as a part of maritime and Canadian culture. LEAVE THE HUNT BE!!

Magdalen Islands said...

I applaud you Bradley for realizing that attitudes change and evolve. When we are young, we have very idealistic attitudes. I remember thinking that I could very easily become a part of the greenpeace movement back in the 70's, when they were at their worst. Well I could have except for the fact that I have never been a follower of anyones movement but my own.

Still, I don't believe in the seal hunt or any hunt because of the violence behind it. Amongst the English of the islands, we never used the seal for a food source and few English eat seal meat, even now. But then there are very few English Islander seal hunters left, if any. I suppose that is why I have never accepted the seal hunt as morally viable.

In saying that though, I have no intention of protesting the seal hunt or seal watching, which I also object to. Humans cuddling the white coats is harmful to the animals and risks scaring the mother off, as it does with all wild animals. The helicopter are disturbing the nursery. Would a human have that sound around their newborns without concern? The sound bothers me.

So all in all, live and let live, is what I say.