Only when a reward was offered, did a member of
the local community name the perpetrators. The 15 and 17-year-olds who could
not be identified because of their age and 18-year-old Colton Clements,
admitted to using a hockey stick, a club and a clam hack to kill the seals.
They disposed of the club and clam hack and burned the hockey stick.
The court heard that it was the 15-year-old who
came up with the idea and that he killed the majority of the seals while
the other two went along with the plan. The youngest offender said “seals are
like mice in your cupboards”. He did not seem to understand why people
were so upset. The 17-year-old, the only one of the three who had been drinking
at the time of the incident, killed 2 seals and stopped because he “felt bad
for the seals.” He said, “I knew it was
wrong and I wish I had not done it.” The 18-year-old killed 5 seals and
stopped, but made no attempt to prevent the 15-year-old from bludgeoning the
rest of the seals.
They were all sentenced today in Georgetown in
front of Judge Nancy Orr. The two juveniles received fines, two years of
probation, 200 hours of community service, and because they enjoy hunting and
fishing, they will not be allowed to do these activities for two years.
The 18-year-old was given a similar sentence,
but a slightly larger fine even though he could have received up to five years
in jail. In making her ruling, Judge Orr said the maximum sentence was for the
worst offenses with the worst facts and for the worst offenders. She said
“the facts are bad, but this is not the worst offender” because this young
man had no prior history of violence and had not been in trouble of any
kind.
Undoubtedly, Judge Orr will come under criticism
for her decisions, but she is restricted in terms of how she can punish
youthful offenders. Colton Clements was one month past his 18th birthday and
just three months older than the 17-year-old. Judge Orr said she would not make
him the “sacrificial lamb” so she opted to punish him in a similar fashion as
she did the other two perpetrators.
A letter of support for the three youths
suggested, “they were undoubtedly influenced by the low opinion of seals in a
tight fishing community.” Online
comments expressed outrage, but those in the local community seemed to support
these young men and perhaps even their motives.
Seals are blamed for the decline in cod stocks
even though seals prey upon the predators of cod. The death of seals in this
region is routine, as seal hunters venture onto the ice each spring to kills
baby seals despite the fact that there is no market for Canadian seal products.
This is not the first time that Georgetown,
population 693, has experienced a collision of sentiments between those who
kill seals and those who defend these marine mammals. In 2008, violence
erupted on the dock as locals cut the dock lines of the Sea Shepherd
Conversation Society’s vessel, the Farley Mowat.
It takes a community to raise a child, and it
was this community that raised the three who committed horrific acts of
violence against a herd of seals. Violence against animals is often a precursor
to violence against people and these young men need professional help. The lens
through which they view the world is flawed.
If there is a miniscule ray of hope in this land
of love for seal killers, it is that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans investigated, charges were made, and there
were convictions even though the punishment was minimal. At least the
killing of these seals was deemed a crime, unlike the senseless slaughter than
happens every year in Canada in the name of tradition and commerce.
For the Oceans,
Janice
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| Grey Seal |
