Horror Show

This is striking but I think it is possibly a little too direct, given that I think most of us are already appalled about this sort of thing.

Perhaps an additional stanza could explore some further less often considered feature or consequence of the cull.

Is there perhaps some benfit of the practice we benefit from, however indirectly?

Thanks.
JM.

While I sympathise; and it is very barbaric to club the poor seals to death; I notice every other day the Americans are blowing up innocent civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan and instead of being outraged we are simply saying nothing, or "Well, if Obama's doing it there must be a good reason."
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16599631

Again, it won't be until it gets closer to home that people will start screaming that 'collateral damage' is just another euphemism for 'murdering the innocent' whoever tries to tell us it's an inevitable consequence of conflict.

Sorry, I'll put my soapbox away now and go and have a nice lie down ;0

I appreciate your feedback, JM.
It is direct, I feel it needs to be!

Regarding consequences/benefits of this ghastly cull, I personally see none but destruction and blood and fur coats for the vain.
Some people (goverment cronies) say that people rely on this trade for money and that the seals are to blame for lack of fish (cod) in waters.
1)Most of these Sealers employment only lasts a few days every year. Some have killed their entire quota, in past years, in TWO days.
Sealers are commercial fishermen who make roughly less than 5% of their annual income murdering these creatures, the rest coming from seafood- prawns etc.
2)It is the overfishing of cod by fishermen that has caused a severe drop in cod in the Atlantic off of Canada. Harp seals have been there for thousands of years and it wasn't until large scale fishing operations that cod numbers dropped.

There may well be some necessity as to why this happens, somewhere along the line, but I have yet to come across it.
I am very intolerant to this practice.

Thanks for the feedback, Mangone.
I don't like the brutalising of the innocent, be them human or animal.
Tragic events are happening all over the world, all of the time and it's hard to deal with.
I hate the wars that are inflicted on the human scapegoats of this world, however I will still speak up for the animals 1) because I am an animal lover and 2) because I think how we treat animals is deeply relevant and connected to how we treat humans and 3) I don't think the wars in the world, however distressing, should make me ignore the seal cull! Surely confronting and challenging ALL atrocities, as best we can, is the way to go?

Thanks Sunday. Your committment and passion really come through in that comment. And I agree absolutely with everything you say. My point is not really that you need to change what you have written, only that your highly engaging comment has had more impact on my view of seal culling than the poem itself.

I just think that if you could focus on just one of these pereipheral facts in an extra stanza, then you would be able to foreground the vulgarity of your subject by means of contrast.

Thanks.
JM.

It means a lot that my comment has had an impact on your view of this hideous culling, JM.
The poem has clearly stimulated some thought on this subject and that is all I wanted.
I take on board what you are saying and thanks again for taking the time to give me some feedback!

"I don't think the wars in the world, however distressing, should make me ignore the seal cull! Surely confronting and challenging ALL atrocities, as best we can, is the way to go?"

I've thought a lot about this, Sunday.
While I agree with you in principle I just worry that too many 'causes' might weaken the chance of any one succeeding. However, in the end, I think that you are right, we should challenge all atrocities!
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16709447

Very pithy. It is a horror, and discussing it brings it to light.

Like any horrendous action, I believe the best way to describe is as you've done; matter-of-factly. I'm consistently appalled at the cruelty of this action, as I am of anything that brutally cuts short innocent life, animal or human.

Stop the cull now!

Thank you, hilary.
Thanks Dynamaso.

I live in the hope that this crime against the innocent will be put to an end soon.
There are petitions for this if anyone is interested-
The Humane Society International (HSI) is a good one.

There's hope on the horizon despite Canadian cull -
due to an EC ban and a fall in the price of seal pelts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8069249.stm