On May 12th, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) praised Senator George Allen (R-VA) for supporting a bipartisan Senate resolution (S. Res. 33) which calls on the Canadian government to stop the cruel and needless commercial slaughter of harp and hooded seals. The resolution was introduced by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and co-sponsored by Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. With more than 300,000 baby seals killed each year, the Canadian program is the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world.
"We are extremely pleased that Senator Allen has signed on to the resolution. His support adds another strong Republican to this bipartisan effort," said Dr. John Grandy, senior vice president of The HSUS. "The United States ended its clubbing of baby seals in 1985 and we urge Canada to do the same in 2005."
The Levin-Collins resolution cites a study by an independent team of veterinarians, who found that the seal hunt failed to comply with basic animal welfare standards and that Canadian regulations with regard to humane killing were not being enforced. The study concluded that up to 42 percent of the seals studied were likely skinned while alive and conscious.
The resolution also cites the inability and unwillingness of the Canadian government to enforce the quota. According to The HSUS, the number of seals killed in 2002 surpassed the Canadian Department of Fisheries' quota by more than 32,000
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