Oregon Tortures, Slaughters Sea Lions So People Can Catch Fish
Sea lions are the constant companions of vessels in harbors and coastal areas across the West Coast of the United States. They are gentle creatures, more bark than bite, with complex social systems. They are mothers and fathers like you and I, feeding their youth with milk to foster another generation of successful marine mammals. Contrast this to the scene that has played out in Oregon and Washington over the past decade. Men and women lacking the skills for actual jobs capture the animals, lock them in metal bars akin to those used to rape cows, sear the flesh of the animals with a number, the stench of burned skin and fur mixing with blood smoking through the air. The animals cry in agony... and are released. That's when the monitoring begins. It's almost like baseball... three strikes, and you're out. The only difference is that, for the poor pinnipeds, striking out is punished with a bullet to the brain, and the strikes are recorded any time they are observed......