Namibia: Dutch Ban On Seal Products Won't Stop Local Culling


The Namibian (Windhoek)
22 June 2007
Adam Hartman



NAMIBIA'S seal-culling season starts on July 1, and although animal-rights activists consider the recent decision by the Dutch parliament to ban all Cape fur seal products as a victory, Namibian stakeholders are not deterred by the decision.

Momentum for support in banning the culling of seal bulls and pups in Namibia is fast picking up as the culling seasons draws closer.

As in previous years, animal-rights activists from all over the world are bemoaning the fate of the tens of thousands of baby seals that will be culled, calling it inhumane and unnecessary.

In Gauteng, South Africa last week, activists in mourning dress marched with funeral music in the background as they moved up and down in front of the Namibian High Commission in Johannesburg, carrying posters stating, 'Stop Killing Baby Seals' and 'Sick Men Club Babies To Death'.

To add fuel to the fire, the Dutch Minister of Environment, Gerda Verburg, on Wednesday announced that a new law banning all imports of Cape fur seal products would come into effect by September.

\"The most time consuming is the total ban on Cape fur seal products.

The international trade in these products is regulated very strictly and some additional steps had to be taken to reach a total ban,\" she was reported as saying.

The decision will not stop the culling from taking place, Namibian stakeholders in the industry told The Namibian yesterday.