I know that sometime in February of this year the Humane Society sent out messages that the grey seals on the shores of Hay Island, Nova Scotia were spared from slaughter because the seal processing plants told seal hunters that they would not buy the skins of the baby grey seals. As a result, there was hope that the harp seals would be spared their lives weeks later in March. Sadly, the slaughter of harp seals started, I believe, this week. It is my understanding that these seals are primarily hunted for their fur, a non-essential luxury product that no one really needs. So, it is pretty cruel what these baby seals have to go through for something that nobody really needs. Furthermore, the amount of seals that are killed every year is depleting the seal population. The good news is that the campaign to end the killing of these baby seals is making progress because, as the Humane Society expressed, the demand for seal products is drying up. Russia even banned the hunting of baby harp seals recently.
Why the Seal Hunt is Cruel to Seals:
http://www.stopthesealhunt.com/site/...Baby_Seals.htm
Why Killing Seals is Unsustainable:
http://www.stopthesealhunt.com/site/..._seal_hunt.htm
If anybody is interested in helping to stop the seal hunt:
http://www.hsus.org/protectseals.html