Sir Paul McCartney. Courtesy of Peta.org.uk

Paul McCartney may have been knighted for his contribution to the pop music revolution, but he certainly deserves long-overdue recognition for his intense animal rights activism. In fact, his three-year long efforts spent to encourage the European Parliament to implement a ban on seal products have finally been rewarded.

Earlier this week, the British Parliament historically voted to pass a ban set to end the commercial slaughter of baby seals, despite facing extensive pressure from the Canadian government to vote otherwise. The ban officially closes a legal loophole that has existed since 1983. Animal campaigners, including McCartney, have fought against the cruel clubbing of these baby animals for the last 40 years, and have hailed the vote as a momentous turning point. McCartney’s endeavors have  been part of the Humane Society and Respect for Animals petition against the cruel seal hunting practices used by Canadian hunters against these creatures.

“This is the best day of my life!” Mark Glover, Campaign Director of Respect for Animals told the Mirror on Monday. “It is the end of an era…EU citizens will no longer have the blood of those beautiful innocent creatures on their hands.”

A vegetarian, McCartney first caught a glimpse into the unforgiving world of seal hunting in 2006 when he visited a harp seal nursery off Canada’s east coast. Since Sir Paul’s visit, the killing of seals has only increased. According to the Humane Society, seal hunting in Canada has claimed the lives of 280,000 seals this year alone. This quota makes 2009’s seal hunt the largest slaughter ever of marine mammals on Earth.

With the new European law, a collapse of Canada’s commercial seal hunt appears inevitable. McCartney’s message leading up to this significant ban was clear: “The fate of millions of seal pups is in the hands of elected members of the European Parliament. In the next few weeks, they will have a historic opportunity to stop the cruel trade in seal products throughout the European Union.”

Sir Paul asked for it. Parliament answered–sounds like the influence of a king to me.