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URGENT - HELP STOP THIS MASSACRE:
Tell Canada the Seal Hunt Must End
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More
than 250,000 seals are already dead in Canada. And that's just the
beginning...
You probably already know that right
now off the ice floes of Eastern Canada, hundreds of thousands of baby
seals as young as 12 days of age are being clubbed or shot to death
without mercy. As I write this, one of nature’s greatest spectacles is being
overrun by seal hunters wielding wooden bats, rifles and hakapiks — a
type of spiked club. The seal pups, awkward and slow, try to flee
without hope of escape. Sealers run
across the ice and club each baby seal once on the head, then flip the
seal on its back to remove its pelt with a knife. Too often, the baby
seal struggles against the knife and is clubbed several more times
until dead.
I
wanted to give you an update on the events of this year’s seal hunt,
and let you know what our next steps are in stopping this cruel and
senseless practice.
Why does Canada still hunt
two-week-old seal pups?
The
simple answer is profit. If seal pelts were not valuable; seals would
not be killed. The greed of a select few has turned one of the world’s
most precious natural heritages into a virtual slaughterhouse.
Last
week Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced its
intention to continue reducing the entire harp seal population by up to
a third ... without scientific justification. The greedy incentive to
maximize profit by killing as many animals as possible, as quickly as
possible, is not only cruel and disrespectful to our natural heritage,
it has the dangerous potential to push harp seals down the road to
extinction.
Canada’s government is counting on
your silence
The
brutal and irresponsible nature of the hunt is at great odds with
Canada’s reputation as a civilized, progressive country.
I
know that like me, you look forward to a day where the Canadian
government, the fur industry and others who are fueling the killing of
baby seals realize that seals are worth more than just the price of
their pelts. That’s why I want to
urge you to speak out right now to tell the new Canadian Ambassador to
the US Frank McKenna that the rest of the world will no longer stand
for such a cruel and senseless hunt. Let’s send him a welcome message
he’ll never forget!
I
cannot stress enough how much your voice makes a difference. Thanks to
a worldwide outcry spurred by IFAW in the 1970s, the commercial killing
of whitecoat seal pups was banned in 1987. Thanks to people like you
speaking out, the seal hunt was slowly dying off through the 1980s
until the Canadian government began seal meat subsidies and set quotas
allowing the slaughter of over a quarter million seals every year.
SEND THIS LETTER TO THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT:
"Dear
Sir/Madame,
I am deeply opposed to Canada’s plan to
slaughter nearly one million seals over three years - the highest quota
in history. The vast majority of these animals (95%) are less than
three months old and completely defenseless.
This deliberate plan to reduce the seal
population through hidden subsidies and unethical killing methods is
completely without scientific justification. Continuing to ignore the
inexcusable cruelty and waste inherent in this annual “hunt” is simply
wrong.
It is long past time for the Canadian government
to act upon the wishes of the compassionate majority that is completely
opposed to this hunt. Please act immediately to end this unnecessary
abuse.
Until you do so, I will boycott Canadian
products, will not visit Canada and will tell other people to do
the same.
Sincerely,
(... your name
...)"
(Email: pm@pm.gc.ca + contact form on: www.canadatourism.com
+ More contacts: www.google.pt/search?hl=pt-PT&q=%22canadian+government%22&meta=
)
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WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP STOP THE SEAL
MASSACRE
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MORE INFO:
WHAT THEY DO
TO ANIMALS FOR FUR PROFITS:
SEALS TORTURE:
ONLINE PETITIONS:
PETITIONS TO PRINT:
SEND LETTERS AND EMAILS TO:
Prime
Minister's Office
Right Honorable Paul Martin - Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington St. Ottawa - Ontario, Canada K1A OA2
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca
Canadian
Tourism Commission
55 Metcalfe St. - Suite 600
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6L5 - 613-946-1000
E-mail: Use the Contact Us form on www.canadatourism.com
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More than 250,000 seals are already
dead in Canada. And that's just the beginning.
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International Fund for
Animal Welfare
www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68286514454940813679765
IFAW observers
just back from the ice have witnessed many acts of cruelty, 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.
They will start to kill over 200,000 more seals in Newfoundland.
There's still time to help, but we need you now http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68286524454940813679765 .
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 http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68286534454940813679765 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 http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68286544454940813679765 and tell others to join us http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68286554454940813679765 . 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 www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68286564454940813679765 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 www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M68286574454940813679765 .
* PLEASE HELP US
INFORM THE WORLD - SEND THIS INFORMATION TO ALL YOUR CONTACTS
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