First-class animal welfare
Animal welfare – what does that mean, some may be thinking
The organisation Dyrenes Beskyttelse (the Danish Animal Protection Society) has made a definition of that word and believes:
“that all animals should have access to the open air, be able to feel fresh air, sunlight and grass”.
and do you know what?
That is exactly how the seals in the sea around Greenland live,
OK, they do not eat grass, but prawns,
and they spend all day swimming freely around in the sea to find their food, while using their muscles, senses and brain.
A seal swims around the sea itself to find its food,
and it is busy if it is going to be full every day.
A single seal eats 7 kg of fish a day – over a year that can add up to about 2 tonnes of fish.
Is the life of the seals first-class animal welfare?
It looks that way according to Dyrenes Beskyttelse.
The Hunting and Fishing Department of the Government of Greenland has, with help from biologists and hunters, said that around 15-16 million seals swim in the sea around Greenland.
The seals are allowed to live in the wild until they are caught by a skilled hunter.
It is professional and experienced people who catch seals.
They do not do it for fun, but to bring food home.
In 2016 the Greenlandic hunters caught 121,000 seals out of 15-16 million seals in Greenland.
Can we call that over-exploitation of nature?
The hunters also take the sealskin home. It is not left in nature to rot.
The sealskin is the bonus catch.
The hunters sell it to Great Greenland.
There the skins are processed in a responsible and sustainable way, so that we can make clothes and shoes from the beautiful sealskins with a clear conscience.
Seal hunting is sustainable hunting.
The animals are allowed to live a good life in the wild, entirely naturally.
Sealskin is a sustainable material for clothes and shoes.
In Greenland the hunters hunt with respect for nature and future generations.
There has to be food for them too, when they are to provide for their families.
The seal is not an endangered species –
neither in Denmark nor in the Arctic.
Oddly enough, the seal in Danish waters has become a threat to the fish – and thereby to our dinner – unless, that is, we do as they do in Greenland and eat both seal and fish.
That way you get a good and varied diet while also getting beautiful skins that can be worked into sustainable clothes and shoes.
Nature must be cared for and looked after –
that is our duty.
That is why we must lend it a hand, with respect for both our planet and future generations of animals and people.
Honestly:
Is it not better to catch and eat an animal that has lived an active life in the wild?
You know, in a genuinely organic way with plenty of room to romp about and without being fed penicillin and additives, rather than an animal born in captivity – in a cage, solely with a view to being used for breeding and meat production?
The meat has a naturally healthy colour and is free of penicillin residue, so you do not have to be afraid of becoming resistant to penicillin or anything else.
It gives you a clear conscience when you eat the meat and use the skin.
