A supporter of the radical animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals got her Just Desserts and a taste of the group’s own tactics Friday afternoon in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The seal-hunt protester who had been following the Prime Minister around the country with with a fellow PETA member dressed as a seal received a cold welcome and a pie in the face in response to her protest.

After arriving in the capital city, Emily Lavender, 21, of Vancouver Island, B.C. began to protest outside of the Delta Hotel, where the PM would be giving a speech along with several other government officials to the construction industry association. She was accompanied by who she thought was another PETA member in a seal costume, however it was in fact an intern at the local radio station who later removed the seal suit and started protesting against and denouncing PETA on camera.

Ms. Lavender, after being left alone with no support, eventually put on the costume herself where she was later joined by another costume wearing mascot. Salty Dog of the Newfoundland tourism and cultural ‘Downhome’ shop, greeted her with a cream pie in the face in front of a cheering and energetic local audience.

Newfoundland, a province whose people and culture are deeply entwined with nature, conservation and hunting has often denounced PETA’s radical and outlandish behaviors. PETA had earlier warned that it would protest the Canadian seal hunt during the Harper event and when they included St. John’s in their list of protests, several locals organized to greet them over the popular social networking site Facebook.

The pieing was in direct response to another pie incident that took place earlier in the week. On Monday a supporter of PETA hit Fisheries Minister Gail Shea in the face with a tofu cream pie during a press conference in Ontario. After the pieing Canadian MP Gerry Byrne pointed out that PETA has long since met the Criminal Code of Canada’s definition of a terrorist organization, and since they insist on committing violent acts and drawing attention to themselves that they should be prosecuted as such.

Several other violent attacks on public figures have taken place this year by radical groups, such as the Italian Prime Minister being hit in the face with a statue sustaining jaw injuries and broken teeth.

Preliminary research conducted by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans is now reporting the booming North Atlantic harp seal population at over 6 million animals. Check out our previous article on the booming seal populations here.

Links:
CBC News – http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/01/29/nl-seal-pie-012910.html
The Telegram – http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=322657&sc=79
CBC News – http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/01/25/burlington-shea-pie-100125.html

Before the collision, the Ady Gil harassed Japanese whaling vessels during their operations. The crew had towed ropes in an attempt to foul the propellers of the Japanese ships, and permanently disabling them in dangerous and isolated seas. They pointed newly acquired photonic disruptors at the crew of the Shōnan Maru 2 while using a projectile launcher to fire capsules of foul-smelling butyric acid created from rotten butter.

The Ady Gil was originally known as â??The Earthrace Vesselâ?? was originally created as part of a project to break the world record for circumnavigating the globe in a powerboat. It featured several environmentally friendly features, could run on both regular diesel fuel and bio-diesel, and was constructed of â??greenâ?? building materials. This wasnâ??t the ships first controversial accident in 2007 was ill-fated. The boat several times encountered mechanical problems, and collided with a Guatemalan fishing boat, killing one of the other boatâ??s crew.

The injury of the Sea Shepperd Crew member is no big surprise. The SSCS has a long history of placing their volunteer members at risk through their lack of maritime knowledge and incompetence. During trips to the Southern Ocean in a non-ice grade vessel, Captain Paul Watson ordered inexperienced and inadequately equipped deckhands down below into a near inescapable rope locker in an attempt to control any flood waters that may rush in if the ship were to be punctured by ice. During the previous anti-whaling mission the captain ordered the launch of the inflatable craft while traveling in rough whether at full speed, where the launching cable snapped causing the craft to flip over, tossing the crew against the ship and into the frigid antarctic waters. Captain Watson is also to blame by Nyles Bauer, former crew member for not compensating him injuries sustained while on a hunger strike.

This is not the Sea Shepherds first collision at sea. The Sea Shepperdâ??s claim responsibility for the sinking of several Icelandic and Nordic whaling vessels. heir previous ship, the Farley Mowat was involved in a collision with the Canadian Coast Guard, who threatened legal action if they entered Canadian waters. The crew of course returned and was arrested in the Canadian Gulf of St. Lawrence while claiming they were in international waters. They were fined $100,000 and had their vessel impounded and then sold for a mere $5000 as a garbage scow. Their flagship vessel the Steve Irwin was previously involved in a collision with another Japanese Vessel, however no severe damage or injuries were sustained.

Links:
3news – http://www.3news.co.nz/Experts-Ady-Gil-tried-to-cross-Japanese-ships-bow/tabid/417/articleID/136461/Default.aspx
3news video – http://www.3news.co.nz/Experts-Ady-Gil-tried-to-cross-Japanese-ships-bow/tabid/313/articleID/136461/Default.aspx
Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ady_Gil
Official Earthrace website – http://www.earthrace.net/