Mise au point de la WWF ré. chasse aux phoques

[Animal 0]

http://www.thetelegram.com/news.aspx?storyID=47288

Friday, March 10, 2006
WWF clarifies seal hunt stand
By Rob Antle, The Telegram

Another organization is unhappy with comments Premier Danny Williams
made March 3 on CNN's Larry King Live.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) disputed Williams' comments inferring
that the organization supports the seal hunt.

Instead, the fund says it remains neutral in the debate.

"WWF is a conservation organization, No. 1," Bob Rangeley, marine
program director for WWF-Canada in the Atlantic region, told The
Telegram. "We work on conservation issues, and at present, our view
is that the hunt is a sustainable hunt, and we have no reason to engage
in that hunt. We don't either support or oppose the hunt."

WWF makes no judgment on whether the hunt is humane, Rangeley noted.

"Because it's not a conservation issue, we defer to others in the
issues of the humaneness of the hunt, or the animal rights issues.
That's just not an area in which we work."

Williams debated the seal hunt on CNN a week ago with former Beatle
Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills McCartney.

During the debate, the premier said, "We are supported by the World
Wildlife Fund, a very reputable organization."

WWF wrote Williams to seek clarification on his comments.

"We were misrepresented, and we don't support the hunt," Rangeley
told The Telegram.

The premier sent WWF a letter in response. The organization posted
excerpts on its website.

"It was not my intention for people watching the program to gain the
impression that WWF actively supports the government of Newfoundland
and Labrador or the seal hunt," Williams wrote in his letter to WWF.

"It is, in fact, my understanding that WWF does not engage in the
seal hunt debate because your organization is focused on conservation,
and that at present the seal hunt is not a conservation issue. Further,
I also appreciate the fact that WWF has left the issues associated with
the humaneness of the hunt to other organizations."

WWF did fund a recent study by an independent group of veterinarians
examining whether the hunt is humane.

Funded study

The organization decided to provide money to the "totally
arm's-length" group after receiving questions from members in
Europe about the issue.

"There was confusion out there, and we felt that we would allow an
independent group to address the questions," Rangeley said.

"We had nothing to do with either the report-writing, or the
selection of the group, or anything else. We just provided them,
basically, some travel funds and some meeting funds."

Both sides in the seal hunt dispute are using that 2005 report to
bolster their respective causes.

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) president Fred O'Regan
suggested in a letter to Williams this week that the report "actually
puts forward no fewer than 11 recommendations to make the hunt
humane."

Williams replied by citing other parts of the report critical of the
involvement of animal-welfare groups in the seal hunt debate.

The veterinarians wrote that "the perception of the seal hunt seems
to be based largely on emotion and on visual images that are often
difficult for even experienced observers to interpret with certainty.
Campaigns and rhetoric that play to the emotion at the expense of
understanding and communication of factual information will neither
increase the use of humane efforts nor reduce animal suffering."

The vets also had positive words for the local hunt, compared to
others.

"The group notes that the Canadian harp seal hunt is professional and
highly regulated by comparison with seal hunts in Greenland and the
North Atlantic," the veterinarians' report said.

"It has the potential to serve as a model to improve humane practice
and reduce seal suffering within the other hunts."

The entire report is online at www.ivwg.org.

Conservation

WWF is involved in a number of Newfoundland-focused issues, such as the
recovery of cod stocks, species at risk, and the illegal dumping of
bilge oil. "Serious conservation issues - that's where we put our
energies," Rangeley said.

IFAW, meanwhile, is demanding an apology and pondering legal action
over comments by the premier it claims link the organization to
domestic terror probes.

Williams has denied any wrongdoing, and indicated no apology will be
forthcoming.