#Sealfies

I'm sure by now you've heard about the famous selfie that Ellen took during the Oscars - and how it generated $1.5 million dollars toward a charity of her choice. Ellen raised the money for Humane Society, specifically towards the end of the Canadian seal hunt, which on her site, she claims is "one of the most inhumane acts against animals allowed by any government" and also wrongly claims that baby seals as young as 3 months old are being harvested (not true, as this was outlawed many, many years ago).

Aside from the misinformation that is floating out there about the seal hunt, and stories such as this frequently mentioning the food insecurity crisis that Inuit face - I think if a person with such influence/exposure is going to make a statement, they need to get their facts straight. I love Ellen, and am a big fan of her show - and I am vehemently against the abuse of living creatures, but I truly feel that the Canadian seal hunt is one of the most unfairly depicted issues out there.

In response to the selfie, Canadians are speaking up and using social media to get their messages to Ellen:

This eloquent young lady's YouTube video addresses some of the key "issues":




This Newfoundlander created a portrait of Ellen made from a seal skin pelt.

And then, there are the #sealfies. People are taking to Twitter and posting pictures of themselves and their seal products (clothing, meat, etc.) to raise awareness. There have been hundreds of photos posted in the past few days - you can see some of them, and read more about it here and read this article here.

Just my two cents on it all.

-L