Aqqaluk Lynge, Inuit Circumpolar Conference president
Our aim is to preserve the best of the old as we adopt the best of the new. ... The surest guarantee of long-term environmental protection and sustainable development in the Arctic is to have Inuit on the land, hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering - taking care of our homeland.

Jacques Cousteau, ecologist and conservationist
The harp seal question is entirely emotional. We have to be logical. We have to aim our activity first to the endangered species. Those who are moved by the plight of the harp seal could also be moved by the plight of the pig, with which we make our bacon. The way [pigs] are slaughtered is horrible. We have to be logical. If we are sentimental about harp seals, which are not endangered because they are partially protected, then we have to also be emotional about pigs.

Monte Hummel, President, WWF Canada
As long as the commercial hunt for harp seals off the coast of Canada is of no threat to the population of over 5 million harp seals, there is no reason for WWF Canada to reconsider its current priorities and actively oppose the annual harvest of harp seals.

Canadian Wildlife Federation
Conservation is not an issue with the east-coast seal fishery. The Federal Government should be congratulated on their management policies in relation to the harp seals.

Tom Hughes, Executive Vice-President of the Ontario Federation of Humane Societies
We believe that the Atlantic harp seal herd is now not only stable, but probably growing. The simple fact is that there is no possible chance that the animal is in any danger of extinction, and it's ridiculous for anyone to suggest that it is in danger. My personal concern, at this time is that the herd might grow too much.

Tom Hughes, Executive Vice-President of the Ontario Federation of Humane Societies
The Gulf of St. Lawrence seal hunt as it is now conducted and as far as the young seals are concerned, is without a doubt one of the most humane slaughtering operations I have ever witnessed. The greatest immorality in the seal hunting controversy has been the reckless, deliberate campaign of racial discrimination and hatred which has been deliberately fostered against the people of Newfoundland and of Canada by groups and individuals whose primary aim is to raise funds, particularly in the United States and Europe.

Pierre-Yves Daoust et. al
The large majority of seals that were studied in the Canadian hunt, 98%, were killed in a humane manner, which compares very favourably with results of surveys done in abattoirs in North America.

Dr. H.C. Roswell, DVM, Dept. of Pathology, University of Ottawa and founder of the Canadian Council on Animal Care.
I have examined the craniums of thousands of seal pups and I have never observed one that did not have massive hemorrhage in the brain, which is an indication that the animal was rendered unconscious and therefore incapable of feeling any pain." And, "in each case the has been massive hemorrhage into the brain resulting in immediate unconsciousness. Death was rapid and humane. The choice of killing method must favour the seal and not the observer. This animal's death, any more than can the death of domestic animals in the slaughterhouse where the public is forbidden and where television cameras do not wish to visit.

Dr. Keith Ronald, Dean of the College of Biological Science, University of Guelph
From a total of 509 animals examined at the time, there was reported to be only one other case of the animal not being rendered unconscious. This appears to be a fantastically high average of humane killing.

Royal Commission on Seals and the Sealing Industry in Canada
clubbing of harp seals is as humane as, or more humane than, the methods used in slaughterhouse when both methods are carried out properly. The frequency of improper killing appears to be generally for harp seals than for the majority of animals in the slaughterhouses inspected

Royal Commission on Seals and the Sealing Industry in Canada
of the more than 40 veterinarians, animal-welfare officers and biologists who have observed the hunt and assessed its humaneness, The Anti-sealing groups have emphasized the findings of only 2 veterinarians ? who concluded that not only was the hunt humane, but also that it could not be changed sufficiently to render it humane.

Trevor Scott, executive director, International Society for the Protection of Animals
We do not support the killing of any animals, but we do consider the slaughter of the seals in Newfoundland to be humane.

Dr. D.H. Pimlott, Canadian Audubon Society
I was impressed with the quick, humane way in which the majority of sealers killed harp seal pups.