105,000 already dead. Today it starts again

More than 105,000 seals are already dead in Canada. And that’s just the beginning.

IFAW observers just back from the ice have witnessed many acts of cruelty and suffering, from clubbed baby seals left in agony while hunters move quickly onto the next seal, to seals shot and left to die a slow death under the ice.

Spectacular ice floes transformed into giant white nurseries just weeks ago are now stained red with the blood of seal carcasses as far as the eye can see.

We’ve witnessed terrified survivors left to crawl alone through the carnage. Heard the crack of gunfire echoing across the once pristine ice floes. Listened to the pitiful cries of the pups and the repellent thuds of the clubs raining down on them.

Today, they will start to kill over 200,000 more seals in Newfoundland. There’s still time to help, but we need you now.

A cry from the ice the world must hear

The Canadian government maintains this is a humane hunt. But as this year’s seal hunt videos document, the hunt continues to inflict unnecessary suffering and cruelty to baby seals as young as 12 days old. This is a cull against seals being run without a clear, scientific understanding of its ecological impacts.

Our staff was even attacked by sealers armed with gaffs and hakapiks, despite being well within our legal rights to observe the hunt. Sadly, there is plenty about the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world the Canadian government wants to hide.

IFAW teams have filmed hours of shocking video footage from this year’s hunt. Now we need your help to show the rest of the world what’s really happening.

I want to personally thank you for such an incredible outpouring of concern from citizens around the world. In the past few weeks, more than 100,000 of you have spoken out against the seal hunt online. This is a tremendous accomplishment, but we must do even more if we are to see an end to this senseless hunt now, before government quotas for seals rise further.

If you haven’t done so already, please add your voice now and tell others to join us. Every action we take now is a critical step in preventing the needless and cruel deaths of more seal pups.

Most of the Canadian public is opposed to the hunt, as are many countries around the world. So why can’t the Canadian government listen?

Canada’s politicians are afraid of upsetting voters, with sealing communities holding seven important political seats. But the more we continue to bring the truth of the hunt to the rest of the world through our scientific reporting and video/photo documentation, the more the pressure against them builds.

Thanks to your efforts, this year has already been extremely successful in building the international outrage we need to take the next step. But we must keep that momentum going now by getting our video footage in front of as many VIPs and concerned citizens as possible.

Please contribute what you can now to help us share the true story of these baby seals with the rest of the world, so the cries from the ice no longer fall on deaf ears.

Thanks for all you do,

Fred O’Regan
President and CEO

P.S. It’s hard to explain how magnificent the sight of hundreds of thousands of baby seals taking their first breaths across miles of sparkling ice really is. Yet only weeks later, this incredible spectacle turns into a blood-soaked carnage. These animals each have distinct personalities and if you saw what happened to each seal in person your heart would break. Please help us get this vital video footage out to the rest of the world.

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