Stop the slaughter of baby seals in Canada.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals are slaughtered on the ice fields off Canada’s east coast for their pelts. Over 95% of the seals killed during this hunt are just days or weeks old, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) reports.

Newborn seals are skinned or bled alive, clubbed to death or shot and left wounded to die under the ice. In the past three years, nearly one million baby seals have been clubbed or shot to death during the hunt, which is subsidised by the Canadian government.

The hunt begins each spring and is happening right now. While the Canadian government maintains the hunt is ‘humane’, evidence gathered by IFAW, including veterinary reports and independent observations, indicates that each year tens of thousands of seal pups die in an unacceptably cruel manner. Year after year, observers report abuses such as those mentioned above and the hooking and dragging of live seals across the ice.

At the forefront of direct action is marine wildlife organisation Sea Shepherd. Captain Paul Watson and the crew of the Farley Mowat have sailed into the ice packs, defying Canada’s ban on documenting the slaughter.

Ironically it’s not only seals who have suffered due to the hunt. Four seal hunters died when their boat capsized recently. According to Sea Shepherd, at the same time that the search for the bodies was taking place, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans dispatched a plane to fly over the Farley Mowat to once again order it out of Canadian waters.

“I am astounded at their priorities,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen on the Farley Mowat. “I would have thought that all of their resources would have been directed at assisting sealing vessels in trouble in the ice and that harassing Sea Shepherd would be the last of their worries.”

Meanwhile Captain Watson said the crew of his ship would rescue any sealers if they require help. “Unlike the sealers and the government of Canada, the Sea Shepherd crew is motivated by both mercy and compassion and a respect for all life.”

Action:
Sign PETA’s petition to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking him to stop the seal hunt, by visiting http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/asia_pacific_seal_petition
Visit IFAW’s www.stopthesealhunt.ca site to make a donation.
Visit www.seashepherd.org and make a donation.