Wild Revolution

What triggered the cultural notion of "clubbing baby seals" as the epitome of most evil things one could do?

I've noticed the term "clubbing baby seals" has been being used fairly frequently in several forms of media as a way of describing something that's unforgivably evil to the highest degree. It's always used to mention something that's pretty much as bad as you can get. I know that clubbing baby seals "is" evil, but I was wondering. What exactly started the trend that makes it the go-to evil term?

Public Comments

1. "Warranty void if Seal is broken." Self-Explanatory.
2. Ask GreenPeace! I'm being serious here too.
3. I think it comes from when the hunting of seals came to public attention thanks to green peace or some other organization, and it became a big deal and everyone was against it.
4. Because baby seals are so cute and cuddly, and just killed for their fur to make slippers. Meanwhile, veal, is condoned, they put poor newborn calves in 2 foot by 4 foot, stalls, in the dark, feed them a liquid diet, that causes them to have diarrhea, their hoofs, rot from standing in this stuff, they are not allowed to nurse from their mothers, or move around.This keeps their meat nice and tender, so people could eat veal chops. Veal is a baby also.
5. well i saw a vid of ppl harvesting them for fur and they stabbed little seals with ice picks, so it was pretty mean
6. "Baby" seals haven't legally been taken since 1987 and prior to that they were only taken because Europe wanted the white pelts. I'm a Newfoundlander my ancestors hunted and sold seal pelts to supplement their income in the Spring. When you live on an Island in the Atlantic ocean and you need to feed your family and provide income and you make your living off the land seals are a valuable resource. This is why the animals have been commercially hunted for hundreds of years. Seal meat is rich in protien, Omega 3 and 6 and provided a warm hearty meal in the colder months. The meat is consumed to this day. I much prefer a nice seal pie to chicken that has never seen daylight. Seal pelts are soft, water proof, and durable. They can withstand the cold wet months. Not only does it get cold out our way it gets very very wet. Seal skin mitts are a really good investment because they can last a life time. seal oil can be used to help those with heart problems. The vast majority of seals today are shot not clubbed. The hakipik is a tool that when used correctly kills the animal quickly. What started the OMG baby sealz was Actresses like Bridget Bardot and other so called activists who decided to jump on the seal hunt bandwagon once whaling went belly up. unlike whales, harp seal populations in Newfoundland are booming. Green Peace had a lot of success with putting a stop to Whaling activities in North America. However when it came to seals they ended up kicking out one of their own Paul Watson because his methods and ideas towards the seal hunt were too extreme. Green Peace has a policy where they do not wish to put an end to something that will harm First nations peoples. They cooled down some of their seal hunt activities because they saw ending the hunt would harm Canadian First Nations. The reason the internet and media portray sealing as " evil" is all due to animal rights campaigners needing another animal to save/ bring in income.