Thursday, February 12, 2009

Some Goods News For A Change

Humane Society Newsletter

Dear Friend,

I have some wonderful news to report.

I have just returned from the shores of Hay Island. There, instead of bearing witness to sealers beating defenseless seal pups to death with wooden bats, I stood amidst a spectacular nursery, alive with protective, nurturing mothers and their babies.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the government of Nova Scotia announced last week that they were authorizing another grey seal kill. But yesterday, seal processing plants told seal hunters that they would not buy the skins of the baby grey seals, and the sealers stayed home.

The fact that buyers are unwilling to purchase grey seal pelts this year proves that global markets for seal products are evaporating. With a pending ban on seal product trade in the European Union, the writing is on the wall -- this is the beginning of the end of the commercial seal slaughter.

Many sealers are now openly wondering whether shrinking markets will also impact the imminent commercial harp seal kill. In light of these developments, HSI Canada is urging the Canadian government to buy out sealing licenses and develop alternative economies for coastal communities.

The grey seal pups are likely safe for now, but in just a few weeks, the true target of the world's largest slaughter of marine mammals -- the harp seals -- will be killed by the hundreds of thousands in horrible ways. Still, just as with the grey seals, there is hope for the harp seals. Not only is the demand for seal products drying up; the boycott of Canadian seafood products is costing the Canadian seafood industry far more than the seal hunt brings in.

Thank you for helping us keep up the fight for seals, and for all that you do for animals.

In celebration,

Rebecca Aldworth
Director
Humane Society International/Canada