It's probably a good time for fans of marine mammals to avert their eyes - smoked seal meat has gone on sale in eastern Russia, and its arrival has prompted an outcry from animal lovers, who are very far from best pleased.
According to the Mirror, the sausages are being manufactured by a private company in the Magadan region of Russia, approximately 6,300 miles from Moscow.
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Claims have been made that around 140 seals have been shot or clubbed to death in a bid to make the controversial meat product.
Authorities in Magadan said: "Seal meat not only tastes good, it is healthy - it is low-calorie and is high in nutritional value."
The entrepreneur behind this business venture is Vasily Borisov, who defended the manufacture of the product, saying that his company made 10,000 cans of spotted seal meat and seal bacon last year.
In a statement, Vasily's company said: "Such food wasn't produced even in Soviet times. The meat of captured animals went for feed at farms raising Arctic foxes and mink. But according to dietitians, seal meat possesses not only a good taste, but also nutritional value."
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According to the Sun, since Vasily was given the go-ahead to make the sausages (as well as seal pâté), he has claimed the products clear respiratory passages, prevent heart attacks, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and even help people withstand chemotherapy.
He reportedly told local officials: "I'm ready to provide seal fat to any kindergarten class, like in old times. A spoonful a day, just like in our childhood."
Not everyone is on board with the enterprise - the manufacture has resulted in a petition to the Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to block the sale of the meat, which has been branded 'primitive and amoral'.
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Olga Salnikova, founder of the Change.org petition, wrote: "Humanity in its relatively short history has brought too much misfortune to seals and marine mammals.
"There is absolutely no need to kill seals, which are highly developed mammals, for food."
The Mirror reported that more than 160,000 people have now signed the petition, which insists that 'seals are not sausages'.
Ilya Volodin, a zoologist, told the publication: "It's senseless to make sausage from seals because it's cheaper and easier to make it from cows."
Featured Image Credit: 49gov.ruTopics: Food, World News, News, Animals, Russia