Harp seal heart valves being tested for human use

Roger Collier

doi:10.1503/cmaj.090936

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Sealing leaky logic
Paul J. Eisenbarth

Posted on: 07 July 2009
Frankenstein Science
Paula R. Moore

Posted on: 30 June 2009

Posted on: (7 July 2009)
Page navigation anchor for Sealing leaky logic
Sealing leaky logic
Paul J. Eisenbarth
The News article "Harp seal heart valves being tested for human use" contains a photo of protesters in Spain (Spain!!) presumably objecting to the presumed cruelty/non-necessity of the Canadian seal hunt.
As one who has lived and worked in the eastern arctic, I can personally vouch for the Inuit seal hunt as a necessary and healthy means of providing good food and other products to the local population; the add...
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The News article "Harp seal heart valves being tested for human use" contains a photo of protesters in Spain (Spain!!) presumably objecting to the presumed cruelty/non-necessity of the Canadian seal hunt.
As one who has lived and worked in the eastern arctic, I can personally vouch for the Inuit seal hunt as a necessary and healthy means of providing good food and other products to the local population; the additional possibility of harvesting heart valves from harp seals for use in human health research and/or surgical treatment would be most welcomed by the Inuit and, I imagine, other responsible Canadian sealers.
As one who also raises heritage bovine livestock, I have the utmost respect for bulls and do not feel that Spain, or the EU in general, should be hypocritically criticizing a Canadian food and byproduct industry while not banning "bullfighting" (better desribed as "ritualistic public torture of a bull prior to its slaughter"). I've seen it, and no bull of mine will ever enter a bull ring.
Only by careful research will we, or our European critics, know whether our relatives [the harp seals] might be able to help us with a few valves as well as good food and clothing. Most Inuit, I think, would believe the seals would willingly contribute to the research -- as long as we take good care of their habitat. Hunters who personally rely on a species are usually pretty good conservationists.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.
Posted on: (30 June 2009)
Page navigation anchor for Frankenstein Science
Frankenstein Science
Paula R. Moore
Dear Editor:
While the Canadian government and a handful of out-of-touch experimenters are promoting the use of heart valves from harp seals for human patients, cutting-edge scientists are looking at ways to grow heart valves in a laboratory using a patient’s own cells. If you were a heart patient, which would you choose?
Seals and other animals carry viruses and bacteria that could prove deadly to t...
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Dear Editor:
While the Canadian government and a handful of out-of-touch experimenters are promoting the use of heart valves from harp seals for human patients, cutting-edge scientists are looking at ways to grow heart valves in a laboratory using a patient’s own cells. If you were a heart patient, which would you choose?
Seals and other animals carry viruses and bacteria that could prove deadly to the people who receive their body parts. And as Dr. Magdi Yacoub, the world’s leading heart surgeon and Professor of Cardiac Surgery at Imperial College, points out, using donated human cells instead of heart valves from animals “will reduce the risk of serious human disease caused by rejection.”
Scientists and patients alike should reject the harp seal-heart valve research for what it is: a thinly veiled attempt to lend credence to Canada’s commercial seal slaughter, the largest and most barbaric massacre of marine mammals on the planet.
Please visit www.PETA.org to learn more.
Sincerely,
Paula Moore, Research Specialist, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.