Stop euthanising animals for humanity's sake

In July, a friendly faced appeared near Norway’s Capital city in the Oslo Fjord – a 600kg walrus. Locals affectionately named the walrus Freya and she quickly shot to fame with videos of her struggling to scramble on boats.

Credit: Koninklijke Marine.

By: Derry Salter.

Freya began her journey in the Arctic, gracing Europe with her large presence before resting in Norway. Large crowds gathered on the waters edge within touching distance. However, soon after, the media reported Freya chasing a woman into the water. Another report saw a kayaker’s ‘scary encounter’ with the animal when she approached his vessel.

 

Yet on 14 August, the mammal was killed by the government. In less than a month, her celebrity status declined and she was painted as a danger to the public. Erik Born, a senior scientist at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources said: ‘Walruses are unpredictable in their behaviour and are perfectly well able to catch a seal between their front flippers and stab them to death.’

 

Many have accused Norway of murdering the mammal with petitioners raising £20,000 for a statue to the beloved Walrus. But a statue is too little to level out the crime committed against the animal.

 

Although walrus attacks on humans are very minimal, scaremongering quickly took over the media and saw the innocent walrus sentenced to death. A consulting Artic marine biologist Dr Jeff Higdon shed light on the situation: ‘Everyone who crowded that animal put themselves and their children at risk and contributed to the unfortunate outcome.’

 

The country’s Prime Minister continues to support his choice, saying euthanising Freya was the right decision and ‘Sometimes we have to make unpopular decisions.’

But was this result inevitable? Should it have led to Freya’s death?

 

Fern Wickson from the Arctic University of Norway shunned the government’s response, detailing that ‘The risk was potential rather than demonstrated.’

 

Truls Gulowsen of the Nature Conservation Association criticised the Norwegian government stating that the country did not consider that locals ‘behaved like idiots faced with nature...Elsewhere, authorities managed to keep them away and people managed to show consideration. But here in Oslo Fjord, no one could be bothered – so we kill it instead.’

 

However, Gulowsen’s comments do not ring entirely true. The euthanasia of animals for the sake of human’s is not new and certainly won’t end with Freya. In 2021, Geronimo the alpaca was euthanised in England to stop the spread of bovine tuberculosis to humans. The alpaca was given no chance to live: his isolation from other animals was declined and he was ruthlessly dragged away from his home before the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs murdered him on 4 September 2021. Days later, Helen Macdonald provided new evidence that Geronimo was not infected with tuberculosis, albeit the government continue to deny this. Again, his death was a result of simple scaremongering.

 

Humanity’s fascination with stranded animals continues to endanger and kill them.

Could all of these animals have been saved if it wasn’t for the nagging curious voice in our minds?