Green Light: Vladimir Putin

Green Light is JUICE‘s nominated hero championing green and anti-cruelty causes. We would never have thunk it, but this week we nominate Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin.

It’s a controversial choice. He’s accused of being authoritarian, alleged to having patchy internal human rights and freedom records, and hasn’t done much to curb the spread of AIDS or pollution in his country, but he does have a soft spot for cute furry mammals.

The Russian PM has been at the front of a new Russian law that bans the hunting of baby harp seals. Vlad purportedly called the hunt a “bloody industry” and now in Russia, harp seal pups less than a year old are protected. One of the reasons the ban was called into place was because of a recognition that the practise isn’t by definition a hunt, since baby seals can’t fight back, and because of a growing need to protect  bio-diversity. Harp seals don’t just face decreasing numbers due to hunting but the decreasing size of Arctic ice too. So it’s kind of a weak “Yay” with this one….