It’s been about a minute since ex-Smiths frontman Morrissey was outraged about something, so the always sardonic and ever eloquent singer has decided to rectify the situation, with the nation of Canada serving as the latest target of his ire for their “greedy and barbaric” annual seal hunt.
“This sorrowful Canada,” opens Morrissey in a statement posted to his fan site True To You. The singer then goes on to lambast the Canadian seal hunt, which takes place every year and permits hunters to catch up to 270,000 seal pups that are as young as 10 days old. The pups are mostly sold for their fur. The event has long attracted criticism from animal rights groups, including PETA.
“Gail Shea, the federal Fisheries Minister for Canada, says that baby seals are ‘killed humanely’, and explains how the baby seals are shot by high-powered rifles. Is this a death that Gail Shea would wish for herself? Would it make her happy to be shot by a high-powered rifle?” writes Morrissey.
“If she considers such butchery to be so ‘humane’, why doesn’t she place herself amongst the tens of thousands of grey-coated harp seals that will be slaughtered within the next few weeks? She could then test the humane aspect of having her head blown off for herself,” the indie icon adds.
He goes on to say that “Canada is a beautiful country, and the people of Canada are good people,” but that “good people are often ineffectual” and the country’s “sorry image” is “due entirely to its seal slaughter,” which, he argues, unfortunately renders the nation “regrettably fashionably dead.”
A famously passionate advocate of animal rights dating back to his days with The Smiths, Morissey attracted ire himself earlier this year after he compared meat-eaters to pedophiles, saying, “I see no difference between eating animals and paedophilia. They are both rape, violence, murder.”
Morrissey Canadian Seal Hunt Statement
This sorrowful Canada
The seal hunt in Canada is struggling to make a start this year due to almost no markets, and China especially is refusing to sell Canadian seal meat. Thank you, China!
China has stated that “animal rights protests” are the reason why they have dropped Canada’s custom.
The annual East Coast seal hunt/kill started Monday – against a strong wave of trade and court challenges. Europe continues its ban on seal products.
Gail Shea, the federal Fisheries Minister for Canada, says that baby seals are “killed humanely”, and explains how the baby seals are shot by high-powered rifles. Is this a death that Gail Shea would wish for herself? Would it make her happy to be shot by a high-powered rifle? If she considers such butchery to be so “humane”, why doesn’t she place herself amongst the tens of thousands of grey-coated harp seals that will be slaughtered within the next few weeks? She could then test the humane aspect of having her head blown off for herself. Only then could she be thought to speak with any authority on the subject.
Canada is a beautiful country, and the people of Canada are good people. But good people are often ineffectual. Internationally, Canada’s sorry image is due entirely to its seal slaughter – which is greedy and barbaric, and it is dismaying to witness such ignorance in 2014. Sound reason tells us that only those of the thinnest intellect wear animal fur, and because the Canadian government are concerned with animals only economically, killing baby seals with lightning brutality is now Canada’s primary global image. Until this annual massacre is abolished, Canada itself is regrettably fashionably dead.
Morrissey
16 April 2014
Los Angeles.
