CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Accord Will Halt Seal Pup Slaughter

A Taiwanese businessman has called off a plan to slaughter 30,000 seal pups in South Africa for food and aphrodisiacs, the Taiwanese government and a national animal protection group have announced in San Francisco. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the businessman, H. Hsu, was a private entrepreneur and that the government had no jurisdiction in a South African enterprise. However, it strongly urged Hsu to cancel his business transactions, and Hsu relented, a consulate statement said. The consulate announcement was released after veterinarian Dr. Elliot Katz, the president of In Defense of Animals, contacted officials for confirmation that Hsu had agreed to close a factory built for processing the seals. “It’s a gory business,” said Katz. “They were planning on clubbing to death thousands of baby seals.”