Most people think that Canada's much-maligned seal kills, in which baby seals are brutally clubbed and skinned on the ice floes, ended in the 1970's. But just several months ago, the Canadian government announced that it will allow hunters to club to death nearly one million young seals over the next three years.
In terms of the sheer pain and suffering involved, the Canadian seal massacres are some of the cruelest wildlife hunts staged anywhere in the world. It has been estimated that up to 40% of the seals killed in the 2001 hunt may have been still been alive and conscious when the sealers skinned them. Killing this huge number of seals will also have unknown ecological consequences, as seals have been an integral part of the arctic ecosystem for thousands of years. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Canadian government not only allows this hunt, but actively encourages it; between 1995 and 2001, it provided more than $20 million in subsidies to the sealing industry.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Contact Canada's Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien to express your outrage. You might also want to mention that knowing such a brutal industry thrives in Canada makes it an unsavory spot to spend one's tourist dollars.
The Honorable Jean Chrétien
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1A OA2
Fax: 613-941-6900
pm@pm.gc.ca
Please also cc the Canadian Tourism Commission
Doug Fyfe, President and CEO
Canadian Tourism Commission
55 Metcalfe Street, Suite 600
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L5
Canada
Send an email through:
www.canadatourism.com/en/ctc/aboutctc/CTX_ContactUs.cfm
For more information about the seal hunt, see www.protectseals.org
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