I know I’ve turned a blind eye to Arthur’s hunting. But unlike Arthur, the guy pictured here is capable of developing a sense of morality and living by a code that distinguishes right from wrong.

Canada has set itself a quota of 350,000 seals to be culled this year; enough to put the survival of the species at risk. The first phase of the hunt killed 16,000 over quota, but seal hunters need not worry as when they exceeded 2004’s quota by a similar amount, nothing happened.

It’s sometimes said that seals gain sympathy from being cute; if the Canadians were beating rats with sticks nobody would care. But the opposite is true; cuteness is a curse for which they are killed. Once skinned the rest is thrown back into the sea. As you’d expect they’re killed young, two to twelve weeks, while the fur is nice and soft.

And it has very little to do with preserving a poor, put upon indigenous people’s way of life. It’s about high fashion and low fashion.

So get along to StopTheSealHunt.co.uk and let your MP know you’d like to see the sale of seal skin products banned.

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