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'Not gonna change a thing,' seal flipper business owner says of online abuse

'Not gonna change a thing,' seal flipper business owner says of online abuse

A company that sells seal flippers says, after a weekend of online harassment and abusive comments, it's flipping the script.

Kelly Taylor, the co-owner of Taylor's Fish Market in Conception Bay South, posted a photo of her sister and fellow company owner Jane on the store's Facebook page last week.

Overnight, some commenters began bashing the women — and the seal industry — which prompted the pair to temporarily remove the page from the public eye.

"They were full of hate directed at us. We should be killed, we should be riddled with cancer, things like that," said Taylor.

"They weren't just [people] from away, there were some people from [Newfoundland and Labrador] as well. But just, it was more of an annoyance than it was a shock."

The post was a photo of Jane Taylor holding up a couple of large-sized seal flippers, noting it had been a good season.

'Uncalled for and unnecessary'

Taylor said she never felt threatened by any of the commenters, even the ones specifically targeting them personally.

"I guess if you took them to heart you would, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion which, I know many people may not agree with what we do, which is fine, but there's ways to voice your opinion and what was said was uncalled for and unnecessary," Taylor told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.

"But you pick up and you move on. If anything, it's after promoting business — which is great."

Taylor said the Facebook page is back up and running, with a few new changes and restrictions in place. She added that it's now brimming with positive comments from people supporting the seal industry.

Taylor said this incident won't colour they way she and her sister will do business or use social media.

"We're not gonna change a thing. We're just gonna keep going the way we were … we've turned a bad into a good, which is all you can hope for."