Spanish animal rights group EquAnimal takes the prize for the most epic protest for the International Day of Action Against the Canadian Seal Hunt with about 100 activists stripping nude for the cause.
The sprawling mass of nude painted-red bodies seemed to cause quite a stir in Madrid yesterday. While the effectiveness of nude protests is always arguable, the Spanish media has covered the story extensively today, with some outlets even including footage of seal hunting along with their coverage of the protest.
The action seemed to be less ridiculous than the typical nude protest that we’re used to in America; instead of a couple model-thin women, EquAnimal had hundreds of men and women of all shapes and sizes participating.
If you want to help out with the day of action, it’s not too late (and no nudity is required). Four of the five ways to participate are still easy to do after the date.
Some PG-13 Photos:
Newscasts (contain graphic violence and nudity):
Photos courtesy of Periódico La Democracia.
Regardless. Having a problem in your own country doesn’t mean you can’t protest against something in another country.
They just wanted an excuse to get naked and find someone to hook up with.
I think that the seal hunt is a controversy. I am unwilling to take a side in this controversy as of yet. I am all for saving and protecting seals, but contrary to popular belief, remote canadian communites do rely on the income of sealing. We hunt deer and moose and fish. Just because they hunt seals doesn’t mean its any different- SO LONG as there is a quota THAT IS WELL WATCHED AND MONITORED. We can use all of our animal resources, we just need to make sure that we keep the populations sustainable.
It would make me much happier to see these protests directed at the people sawing down rainforests, shooting elephants for only their tusks, and destroying the habitat of the endangered panda than on the preservation of seals, of which there are MILLIONS of.
That said, instead of worrying about other countries, focus on your own!
Kudos to the protesting of bullfighting though!
Alex,
I’d like to help to stop the seals slaughtering, but i don’t really know how. I see everywhere that I can write letters, boycott the Canada products, but I want to do something more, and direct. I’d actually like to go there, on the ice, where the seals massacre is. i know few years ago a ship have been there and people have been arrested, but I still want to go there. Do you know any way or any groupe of people interested?
Thank you
The disturbing nature of people today is appalling.How would they feel if they were hunted for something so others could get rich off the suffering of others.I applaud the efforts of those whostand up for rights of animals and believe if you dont know what talking about dont comment.It wasn’t about the culture of the persons but about protecting those whocan’t protect themselves be it seals,bulls,or any other animal who has a right to live.
I cannot fathom how HYPOCRYTICAL these European nations are, especially Spain that KILLS BULLS FOR SPORTS. In Spain, the matadors, evil killers of innocent bulls, are the most revered of sportsmen. This shows the mentality of the people. How dare Spain and Spanish people protest against the seal hunt in Canada. They should remember “charity begins at home” and the Christian Nation of Spain should “cast the beam off their eyes before they can see well to condemn the speck in the other’s eyes”. Britain is no better. Aristocrats and the royal family killing foxes and other animals just for sport. Barbarians. I remember a few years ago when the Brit government banned fox hunting. These so-called aristocrats and their supporters were up in arms. So I will tell the Europeans, the self-righteous, who are protesting against the seal hunt in Canada. “CLEAN YOUR OWN HOUSES FIRST, AND STOP THE SELF RIGHTEOUS ATTITUDE.”
THAT IS SO NASTY
As a Canadian, I appreciate what people are doing around the world to protest this barbaric activity that, to my shame, some of my fellow Canadians persist in carrying out. And even more shameful, that our federal government persists in subsidying by allowing the hunters to continue this work and then file for employment insurance funding at other times of the year. We are not the only country that has citizens and governments doing bad things but when we present outselves as “do-gooders” it’s appalling.
great post and so great to see this protest. As a Canadian who lives in shame over many of our utterly outdated ways on animals I am reminded of JM Coetzee’s words
“One might as well argue that because Canada used to hang convicted murderers by the neck until they were dead the tradition should not be allowed to disappear. Sealing in Canada is not a tradition, it is just an unenlightened, outdated practice.”
J.M. Coetzee, Interview from March 2008
It’s time to step things up against Canada’s lack of humane decency.
Please check out my blog post and really truly start a boycott of this country and make it known everywhere and especially to the media. Canadians have counted on the fact that no one bothers to pay attention to them.. we need to let Canadians know the world has their number
http://tippingpointblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/what-canadians-call-humane/
“Shouldn’t those hypocrites be protesting Spanish bullfights?”
You should watch it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXF9fMzkOy8&feature=channel_page
And after all, shut up your face!!
BYE
Seal hunting has got to go no doubt about it. Recent polls indicate three quarters of Canadians want it to end. And for the love of god, it is not and never will be an economic benefit, rather a big drain on the economy of Canada. As was pointed out, when slavery was abolished, those involved found better things to do with their time. That is what these people should be doing, and in ten years time, (after it’s been scrapped hopefully) they will be thanking themselves they did. So out it has to go.
Thank you for spreading the notice, I will try to tell the people of Equanimal to translate into English all the videos posted so everybody can understand; they are very involved in defense of animal rights in Spain, bullfighting it´s the SHAME of Spain, lots of spaniards are against this horrible practise and we fight to stop it, but it seems to be a difficult job, many people don´t understand the suffering of the animal and defend it like a national party, maybe it could help if the whole world shows disagreement and talking about not visiting Spain for holidays until this horrible practice stops.. SORRY for my poor English
Thanks from Madrid!!
Fantastic!! Very appellative and aggressive visually! Shocking!Congratulations!
Fantastic!! Very appellative and aggressive visually! Shocking!
I’m Canadian and I’m against the commercial seal hunt. There is no justification for it because it is only for the stupid vanity of some people who think it’s some ‘fashion’ statement to wear real fur. Same with fur-farming.
Also, it’s really ludicrous to see some idiot run off a boat, run over to a seal, club it in it’s head, and drag it back to the boat. Nothing better to do?
The protest was great. Gets a lot of attention.
Bravo EquAnimal!
Amazing work of our Spain friends that willing to take off everything to be the voice of our voiceless Canadian Seals!
i appreciate our nude friends that showed their heart for animals, than full-clothes polite people that showed no mercy for innocent harmless puppies Seals by hunting them!!
no murder is sustainable. The government need to find other ways for their economic welfare.
watch the video: 6 activists jumping into Madrid bullring to demand the abolition of bullkilling
http://www.asaltoalruedo.org/
Thanks a lot from Spain to all of you. We are fighting very hard against bullfighting and for animal rights as well. You can see our job at http://www.equanimal.org
Brilliant! Pure art; the protest is incidental. Just great. It certainly will bring awareness to the problem.
It is not sustainable, and it is not against the Inuit hunt (which only kills 719 seals per year for survival) -this is against the COMMERCIAL seal hunt which kills over 300,000 harp seals per year and which is for profit only. Go to http://www.ifaw.org for more details about how the commercial hunt is NOT sustainable. Oh yeah, Canadian taxpayers are subsidizing this hunt…
I live in Iqaluit, Nunavut and seal hunting is a sustainable reality. The Inuit people use every part of the seal and hunt primarily for the meat and fat to survive the harsh Arctic climate. Seal is also significantly less expensive as food than what is flown in from the south. In some of the more remote communities a pound of rice is $11! Fresh fruit and vegetables are barely edible on arrival. So when you question why the Inuit hunt, it is not just for the fur.
I am 100% for animal safety and health, but I also fully back the Inuit cause and believe that Inuit seal hunting is completely credible. I have read much about the people and their extensive respect for and understanding of the seal and their mutual interaction with the ecosystem to which both species belong.
Dev,
I don’t understand enough Spanish to provide a translation and the Spanish newscasts were the only videos available.
-Alex
Hi,
I would appreciate such efforts.
And the people devoting their time for animals. It shows they have humanity in their heart. They still proving that god created human as the topmost creation of it. Because they are spreading peace and love for every creation of god.
I would just request here to the people if they are posting youtube videos , then please try to put the translated in english if it is not possible to dub it into english atleast try to put sentences at the bottom of video so that people like me who don’t understand spanish can understand it.
Thanks.
I am with you.
as a native North American, I’m even more appalled at the slaughter of our seal cousins for money. But, it is consistent with the Canadian attitude toward nature. These people slaughtered native people in much the same way and Canadian mining companies and logging operations are destroying Mother Earth all over the planet. The people in these communities don’t need to hunt to sustain themselves. They kill, not to put food on the table, but to consume more crap that is killing the planet.
Alex is pretty much correct. I don’t understand how anyone can accept this needless practice, much less defend it with spurious arguments about supporting remote coastal communities.
The argument that they can’t find other things to do is ridiculous. When slavery was abolished, everyone who ever relied on it had to adapt and learn new trades.
Yea for them, we all live on the same planet and share the same resources and we fight animal cruelty wherever it is. I fight bullfighting and the seal slaughter, one can do both!!!!
And the seal slaughter is barbaric, cruel, not sustainable, it is commerical funded by the Canadian government using taxpayer’s money. Nothing remote about it except where it takes place and the government helps with this. IT IS COMMERICAL, not cultural or traditional.
KYDOS TO SPAIN!! AMAZING JOBS FOLKS-REAL NOISE 4 THE VOICELESS
Joan, please don’t talk nonsense! How can you write about “sustainable use of a natural resource” ? It’s a horrific slaughter of puppies clubbed to death without any reason!!! The Canadian Economy gains nothing, the opposite! Before writing please get some information! And since I’m an AR activist I’m not hypocritical, I fight for the right of every animal to LIVE! Animals are not OURS, we can’t use them, they are not made for us. Seal hunters are violent, you don’t have a heart if you are able to kill that way, sooner or later they use their violence against humans
Go Vegan Joan, you will be a better person!
Kudos to them! Great protest!! Thank you for sharing.
Joan,
Before you make an accusation of hypocrisy, you might want to click a couple of the links in the story. This same animal rights group frequently runs out into bullfighting rings, risking their own safety and freedom to protest the “sport.”
Here’s one video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXF9fMzkOy8&eurl=http://www.equanimal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=10
And who says they’re protesting the “sustainability” of the hunt? They’re protesting the killing of thousands of animals for nothing but their furs. Don’t kid yourself into thinking these hunts are for natives in “remote coastal communities” — the hunt only exists because there are people buying the furs.
The seals aren’t being killed for food. They’re being killed to sell their furs, and eight seals makes one coat. “Sustainable” or not, it’s unnecessary.
-Alex
Shouldn’t those hypocrites be protesting Spanish bullfights?
Canadian seal hunt = sustainable use of a natural resource by people living in remote coastal communities.
Spanish bullfights = slow torture and killing of an animal for the entertainment of a crowd of Spaniards.
AGREED