Fur seal hunt protesters to take to the streets in Parkhurst

26 June 2015 - 17:11 By RDM News Wire

Four women dressed in “bloody” body suits walking down trendy 4th Avenue in Parkhurst‚ Johannesburg‚ is the unlikely sight that will greet customers in its coffee shops and restaurants. On Sunday morning‚ June 28‚ Fur Free SA will hold a protest march against Namibia’s annual killing of Cape fur seals that takes place from July to November.“The Cape Fur seal is listed as endangered‚ yet this seal hunt is sanctioned by Namibia’s Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resource‚” Fur Free SA said in a statement on Friday.About 85 000 nursing seal pups are clubbed to death for their soft pelts that are sold to international fur markets‚ according to the organisation. And roughly 6 000 males are killed for their genitals that are sold in Asia in the belief that these are aphrodisiacs.Last year 26 000 pups were killed‚ below the quota of about 80 000‚ according to a Bloomberg report.Seals are regarded as “an exploitable marine resource where the government can derive both consumptive and non-consumptive economic gains and government policy is to exploit them on a sustainable basis”‚ the report said‚ quoting the spokesman for the Namibian fisheries ministry.Most sealers are seasonal employees picked from the poor and destitute‚ according to the South African Seal Saving Initiative’s website.South Africa stopped killing Cape fur seals in the 1990s. The United States‚ Mexico‚ the European Union and South Africa have placed a ban on all seal product imports.Police have given permission for Sunday’s protest.-RDM News Wire..

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