Can seals be killed humanely?
Definition of humane: “marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals” (Webster’s dictionnary) The “humane” slaughter of animals is generally understood today to mean a quick death. In abattoirs, this is achieved by first immobilizing the animal and then delivering an accurately placed lethal injury so that unconsciousness and death occur within seconds. Rightly or wrongly, knowing this eases the angst of some people about the deaths of sentient animals that we routinely eat. This “humane” approach to slaughter cannot normally be achieved with marine mammals, with seals or whales, and arguments against killing them have often been advanced on this basis. The evasive actions taken by a hunted grey seal in the water make it very difficult to kill by shooting. Fishermen find that they must pursue the seal and shoot at it repeatedly when it surfaces to breathe. A common outcome is a randomly injured seal that may die later from its wounds. There is therefore no cont