(1) Click here to watch the video footage.
(2) Footage from the 2005 Seal Hunt
Editor's Note: Both footage contain graphic content.

DALLAS, Mar 17, 2006/ MF/ --- ‘Didn't they stop doing that? Isn't that illegal now?’ These are the top two replies from people when they hear about baby Harp seals being clubbed to death in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Each year from late February until mid-March, the East Coast of Canada is transformed from once barren ice floes into a huge, white nursery when thousands of white, fluffy baby seals are born.

However, just two weeks after this beautiful wildlife spectacle unveils itself, nearly one-third of the baby seals will be clubbed to death in a cruel and unnecessary commercial hunt managed by the government of Canada.

Canada's commercial hunt for harp seal pups draws international criticism due to its brutality and waste.

Seals are hunted for their pelts, which are used in the fashion industry; and male seals for their body parts, which are sold in Asia as supposed aphrodisiacs.

As a fashion editor, it really saddens me that all of these unnecessary killing are done all in the name of fashion. And though personally, I do not take any position on anything political because as a journalist, I should remain neutral, it is very hard for me not to be distressed by this news.

FashionWindows.com historically does not take any political positions either for the same reason. As a news website, it has to remain neutral and just report the news.

Yet, it is hard not to answer the call of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) when it asked that this information be disseminated. The annual commercial hunting of seals in Canada is the largest marine mammal hunt in the world.

Nearly one million seals over the last three years alone have been killed during this hunt. Seal pups may be legally killed as soon as they begin to shed their white coats, usually 12-14 days old. Last year, 98% of seals killed were less than three months old.

The following items should be remembered if you watch the video: