Post by Admin on Sept 23, 2005 9:42:58 GMT
This is taken from the Sea Shepherd Website. They are urging supporters and those who oppose the slaughter of seals to write letters to the Charlottetown Guardian in support of the constitutional challenge and to oppose the continuation of the government’s policy of supporting the killing of the seals.
The Guardian takes letters at
letters@theguardian.pe.ca
and advises, "When sending a Letter to the Editor please make sure you include your full postal address & phone number
My email today is essentially three sections. The first section is a press release from Sea Shepherd, the second section is the article that appeared in the Charlottetown Guardian, and the third section is my letter that I sent out today to the Charlottetown Guardian .
[From the Sea Shepherd Website September 20, 2005]
Sea Shepherd Launches Precedent-Setting Court Challenge on Legality of the Annual Canadian Seal Slaughter
On Thursday, September 15th, Prince Edward Island Attorney John Mitchell Q.C. filed papers in the P.E.I. Provincial Court to challenge the constitutionality of regulations protecting sealers from being observed and documented without government permission.
The challenge was filed in the name of the eleven Sea Shepherd crewmembers charged earlier this year for allegedly violating these regulations that prevent the witnessing and documentation of a seal being killed. Captain Paul Watson’s name has also been added to this challenge after he was charged last week for allegedly violating the same regulations.
The legal challenge was filed before Provincial Judge Nancy Orr.
Judge Orr set aside a number of potential days in November and December for the precedent-setting challenge, and she ruled that all materials regarding the challenge will be filed at the Charlottetown courthouse.
According to the Charlottetown Guardian: “No one has ever challenged the legal validity of the East Coast seal hunt before and the case could mark a historic precedent in the wrangling over whether the hunt is inhumane and should be stopped.”
The Sea Shepherd crew believe that their rights were violated because they should be allowed to freely witness and document the slaughter of seals and that the government of Canada is bias in the application of the law for the purpose of shielding the sealers from bad publicity and from evidence that could result in criminal charges for illegal and unethical acts of cruelty against seal pups. The government is also refusing to protect both the rights and the safety of citizens who oppose the slaughter of seals.
This past March, Sea Shepherd crew members were punched, kicked, elbowed, head-butted, and struck with sealing clubs by crewmembers of the Newfoundland sealing vessel the Brady Mariner. The entire assault was caught on videotape.
Despite the documentation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have refused to lay charges against the sealers who assaulted the Sea Shepherd crew because the Mounties claim that the sealers were provoked into violence by the presence of the Sea Shepherd crew on the ice.
Attorney John Mitchell intends to argue that federal legislation regarding the regulations of the seal hunt are unconstitutional.
This is a precedent-setting legal challenge to the regulations which provide crucial support for the slaughter of seals in Canada. If the Society can win this legal challenge, it will benefit all organizations and individuals who wish to document, protest, and shut down this barbaric and cruel annual massacre of seals.
This legal challenge will be expensive and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is requesting donations to be made to help pay for the legal fees.
Sea Shepherd is challenging the slaughter of seals in the courts and in the marketplace with our support of the boycott of Canadian seafood and we are challenging the hunt each year on the ice, face-to-face with the cowardly killers of baby seals.
The Sea Shepherd Twelve are Captain Paul Watson, First Officer Alex Cornelissen, 2nd Officer Peter Hammarstedt, ship’s surgeon Dr. Jerry Vlasak, Cook Lisa Shalom, engineers Andre Casavane and Laura Dakin, deckhands Ryan Goyette, Colin Biroc, Matt Schwartz, Ann “Turtle” Southern, and Ian Fritz.
The RCMP has not laid charges against the sealers, suggesting their reactions were due to the provocation of the anti-sealers.
Sea Shepherd Society Captain Paul Watson was also charged under Canada's Shipping Act with a number of charges related to seal hunt interference. He is also part of the court challenge and, like the protesters, was not present in court. [Captain Watson was not present for the constitutional challenge appearance, however, he did appear for the Canadian Shipping Act Charges.
Watson gave a public lecture in Charlottetown Monday night and raked the Department of Fisheries and Oceans over the coals about the seal hunt.
Also charged is Dr. Jerry Vlasak of California, who has been quoted as saying anti-seal hunt protesters are "freedom fighters."
He has advocated that physically attacking people such as research scientists and sealers is an "effective tactic" that may be justified in the quest to save animal life. His inflammatory comments prompted Canadian Sierra Club president Elizabeth May to resign from the Sea Shepherd Society. [This is false. Elizabeth May did not resign from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and remains a member of the Sea Shepherd Advisory Board. His comments did result in him being removed from Sea Shepherd’s board of directors.].
Mitchell intends to argue that federal legislation regarding the regulations of the seal hunt are unconstitutional. He could not be reached Thursday and was represented in court by firm lawyer Mark MacDonald. Orr set aside a number of days in November and December to hear the case.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is urging supporters and those who oppose the slaughter of seals to write letters to the Charlottetown Guardian in support of the constitutional challenge and to oppose the continuation of the government’s policy of supporting the killing of the seals.
The Guardian takes letters at letters@theguardian.pe.ca
Aaron Boucher's letter appears below]
Dear Charlottetown Guardian:
I am writing today in regard to the seal slaughter in Canada. The reports from the Humane Society of the United States (HSU and the Sea Shepherd are appalling – seals as young as 12 days old were killed in a very in-humane way simply for their fur. The death toll on the ice this year exceeded 319,000 animals, making this the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet.
Why are we constantly being told that this slaughter is “humane”? Mary Richardson, a prominent Canadian Veterinarian, was asked by the Humane Society of the United States (HSU to review their 2005 seal slaughter footage. Her conclusion? “Without a doubt, what I witnessed was clear evidence of unacceptable and illegal cruelty to animals”.
In recent years, licensed observers have submitted video evidence of more than 660 apparent violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations – including seals being skinned alive – to the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO). Why has the DFO refused to lay a single charge in response?
The cruelty documented by the HSUS this year is not the extreme – it is the routine of the commercial seal slaughter. Canadian law prohibits this kind of cruelty wherever animals are killed at the hands of humans. But as the evidence clearly shows, cruelty laws are not enforced during the commercial seal slaughter.
Canadian sealers and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have accused the HSUS of interfering in the affairs of another country and promoting a seafood boycott based on inaccurate information. The obvious question is what exactly entails “inaccurate information”? Is Mary Richardson’s analysis inaccurate?
The fourth-grade class at Farley Elementary School in Massachusetts is so concerned with this slaughter that all of the students wrote an essay in favor of protecting the seals, which were then displayed at the Community Service Learning Fair. They also collected over 400 personalized letters in support of protecting the seals, which were then delivered to Prime Minister Paul Martin. Does Canada want to be known to fourth-graders for this brutality and slaughter? What kind of message does the seal slaughter send to these and other children?
Canada’s decision to allow this slaughter to continue has made it the most-protested country in the world. If Canada is ever going to rid itself of travel boycotts, seafood boycotts and a public relations nightmare, the seal slaughter has to end. I fully support the Sea Shepherd’s constitutional challenge in this case and will be among the thousands of Americans who will be watching it closely.
Respectfully,
Aaron Boucher
Lincoln, Nebraska USA
The Guardian takes letters at
letters@theguardian.pe.ca
and advises, "When sending a Letter to the Editor please make sure you include your full postal address & phone number
My email today is essentially three sections. The first section is a press release from Sea Shepherd, the second section is the article that appeared in the Charlottetown Guardian, and the third section is my letter that I sent out today to the Charlottetown Guardian .
[From the Sea Shepherd Website September 20, 2005]
Sea Shepherd Launches Precedent-Setting Court Challenge on Legality of the Annual Canadian Seal Slaughter
On Thursday, September 15th, Prince Edward Island Attorney John Mitchell Q.C. filed papers in the P.E.I. Provincial Court to challenge the constitutionality of regulations protecting sealers from being observed and documented without government permission.
The challenge was filed in the name of the eleven Sea Shepherd crewmembers charged earlier this year for allegedly violating these regulations that prevent the witnessing and documentation of a seal being killed. Captain Paul Watson’s name has also been added to this challenge after he was charged last week for allegedly violating the same regulations.
The legal challenge was filed before Provincial Judge Nancy Orr.
Judge Orr set aside a number of potential days in November and December for the precedent-setting challenge, and she ruled that all materials regarding the challenge will be filed at the Charlottetown courthouse.
According to the Charlottetown Guardian: “No one has ever challenged the legal validity of the East Coast seal hunt before and the case could mark a historic precedent in the wrangling over whether the hunt is inhumane and should be stopped.”
The Sea Shepherd crew believe that their rights were violated because they should be allowed to freely witness and document the slaughter of seals and that the government of Canada is bias in the application of the law for the purpose of shielding the sealers from bad publicity and from evidence that could result in criminal charges for illegal and unethical acts of cruelty against seal pups. The government is also refusing to protect both the rights and the safety of citizens who oppose the slaughter of seals.
This past March, Sea Shepherd crew members were punched, kicked, elbowed, head-butted, and struck with sealing clubs by crewmembers of the Newfoundland sealing vessel the Brady Mariner. The entire assault was caught on videotape.
Despite the documentation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have refused to lay charges against the sealers who assaulted the Sea Shepherd crew because the Mounties claim that the sealers were provoked into violence by the presence of the Sea Shepherd crew on the ice.
Attorney John Mitchell intends to argue that federal legislation regarding the regulations of the seal hunt are unconstitutional.
This is a precedent-setting legal challenge to the regulations which provide crucial support for the slaughter of seals in Canada. If the Society can win this legal challenge, it will benefit all organizations and individuals who wish to document, protest, and shut down this barbaric and cruel annual massacre of seals.
This legal challenge will be expensive and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is requesting donations to be made to help pay for the legal fees.
Sea Shepherd is challenging the slaughter of seals in the courts and in the marketplace with our support of the boycott of Canadian seafood and we are challenging the hunt each year on the ice, face-to-face with the cowardly killers of baby seals.
The Sea Shepherd Twelve are Captain Paul Watson, First Officer Alex Cornelissen, 2nd Officer Peter Hammarstedt, ship’s surgeon Dr. Jerry Vlasak, Cook Lisa Shalom, engineers Andre Casavane and Laura Dakin, deckhands Ryan Goyette, Colin Biroc, Matt Schwartz, Ann “Turtle” Southern, and Ian Fritz.
The RCMP has not laid charges against the sealers, suggesting their reactions were due to the provocation of the anti-sealers.
Sea Shepherd Society Captain Paul Watson was also charged under Canada's Shipping Act with a number of charges related to seal hunt interference. He is also part of the court challenge and, like the protesters, was not present in court. [Captain Watson was not present for the constitutional challenge appearance, however, he did appear for the Canadian Shipping Act Charges.
Watson gave a public lecture in Charlottetown Monday night and raked the Department of Fisheries and Oceans over the coals about the seal hunt.
Also charged is Dr. Jerry Vlasak of California, who has been quoted as saying anti-seal hunt protesters are "freedom fighters."
He has advocated that physically attacking people such as research scientists and sealers is an "effective tactic" that may be justified in the quest to save animal life. His inflammatory comments prompted Canadian Sierra Club president Elizabeth May to resign from the Sea Shepherd Society. [This is false. Elizabeth May did not resign from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and remains a member of the Sea Shepherd Advisory Board. His comments did result in him being removed from Sea Shepherd’s board of directors.].
Mitchell intends to argue that federal legislation regarding the regulations of the seal hunt are unconstitutional. He could not be reached Thursday and was represented in court by firm lawyer Mark MacDonald. Orr set aside a number of days in November and December to hear the case.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is urging supporters and those who oppose the slaughter of seals to write letters to the Charlottetown Guardian in support of the constitutional challenge and to oppose the continuation of the government’s policy of supporting the killing of the seals.
The Guardian takes letters at letters@theguardian.pe.ca
Aaron Boucher's letter appears below]
Dear Charlottetown Guardian:
I am writing today in regard to the seal slaughter in Canada. The reports from the Humane Society of the United States (HSU and the Sea Shepherd are appalling – seals as young as 12 days old were killed in a very in-humane way simply for their fur. The death toll on the ice this year exceeded 319,000 animals, making this the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet.
Why are we constantly being told that this slaughter is “humane”? Mary Richardson, a prominent Canadian Veterinarian, was asked by the Humane Society of the United States (HSU to review their 2005 seal slaughter footage. Her conclusion? “Without a doubt, what I witnessed was clear evidence of unacceptable and illegal cruelty to animals”.
In recent years, licensed observers have submitted video evidence of more than 660 apparent violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations – including seals being skinned alive – to the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO). Why has the DFO refused to lay a single charge in response?
The cruelty documented by the HSUS this year is not the extreme – it is the routine of the commercial seal slaughter. Canadian law prohibits this kind of cruelty wherever animals are killed at the hands of humans. But as the evidence clearly shows, cruelty laws are not enforced during the commercial seal slaughter.
Canadian sealers and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have accused the HSUS of interfering in the affairs of another country and promoting a seafood boycott based on inaccurate information. The obvious question is what exactly entails “inaccurate information”? Is Mary Richardson’s analysis inaccurate?
The fourth-grade class at Farley Elementary School in Massachusetts is so concerned with this slaughter that all of the students wrote an essay in favor of protecting the seals, which were then displayed at the Community Service Learning Fair. They also collected over 400 personalized letters in support of protecting the seals, which were then delivered to Prime Minister Paul Martin. Does Canada want to be known to fourth-graders for this brutality and slaughter? What kind of message does the seal slaughter send to these and other children?
Canada’s decision to allow this slaughter to continue has made it the most-protested country in the world. If Canada is ever going to rid itself of travel boycotts, seafood boycotts and a public relations nightmare, the seal slaughter has to end. I fully support the Sea Shepherd’s constitutional challenge in this case and will be among the thousands of Americans who will be watching it closely.
Respectfully,
Aaron Boucher
Lincoln, Nebraska USA
