LUSH Cosmetics Just Says No To Canadian Seal Hunt

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by Michael Parrish DuDell March 23, 2009
Categories: Animals.

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Well I guess the song speaks truth…we can all blame Canada. 

As many of you know, the annual seal hunt kicked off today and will once again reign terror over the icy shores of Canada. 

More than 205,000 individual seals were killed last year during the hunt, and just today more than 150 have been killed.

To help stop this bloodbath, LUSH cosmetics is urging people to sign their online petition to help ban the slaughter. They’re also taking it a step further by donating 100% of the proceeds from the sales of their First Swim Limited Edition Bubble Bar to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society— a non-profit that seeks to end the slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans. 

So visit their website today and support a company who supports our planet.

  • stephanie williams

    way to go Lush!! I will be supporting them on this one all the way.

    Last weekend at protests (for seal hunt) the song “Blame Canada” kept running through my head XD

    Shame on the Canadian government for ignoring the global outcry against this.

  • Just a thought.

    I encourage everyone to attempt to grab a bubble bar from their site. I say “attempt” because they seem to be out of stock at the moment. I stopped by my local Lush store over the weekend and they barely had any bubble bars left!
    Took a bath with the bar today – it was lovely!

  • PRO SEALER

    I guess I will not buy lush anymore… sorry you bleeding heart hypocrites. YOU DIPSHITS ARE USING A SEAL PUP AS PROPAGANDA… HARP PUPS (white coats) ARE NOT KILLED BY LAW.. yet you MORONS keep using them to spew your ignorance. Do any of you assholes ever eat cow/pig/horse/chicken meat? because this is the same damn thing… seals are not killed simply for fur, but their meat and their fat…… PICK UP A FUCKING BOOK AND READ UP ON IT. The seals eat all the fish, they need to be regulated like the deers (also perhaps Europeans forget that they overfished in our oceans, making fish scarce…. looking at you Sir Paul). All you eco-terrorists have enough money, perhaps you should be spending some on the fishermen to help them and “save” your poor little seals – of course you wont help (not my job I suppose you will say) so then shut up, I guarantee you that you would do anything to put food on the table for your children. The maritimes dont live the life that those in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver do. Not suprising that you ignorant people never protest the slaughter of ugly cows and chickens….not cute enough right? Hypocrites. You kill a cow on snow and I guarantee you it will be as bloody as a seal. I think the hunt is extremely barbaric, but I also think killing cows and pigs and anything else is extremely barbaric, but then I stop and think, as a meat eater, I have no rights to complain about killing animals…. we all have our place on the food chain, and I guarantee you if a cow was a mean eater he wouldnt think twice about eating you…. grow some guts you bleeding heart morons FYI, the hunt will not stop, get over it

  • PRO SEALER

    Awaiting moderation huh? the hypocrisy will never cease, you will censor anything that is pro sealer……. You dont support freedom of choice for sealer and you wont support freedon of speech for those who think differently… you guys suck

  • parrish

    Pro- We have to screen all of our comments because of the high level of spam we get. We never censor. You’re free to your opinion…even if we don’t agree with it.

  • Just a thought.

    Wow.
    There was a lot of aggression in that post. Everyone is a keyboard warrior these days, though I suppose what I always feared turned out to be correct: Those who back something such as the seal hunt aren’t people I would actually want to meet.

    And please refrain from painting us with such a broad brush. Many of us here that read Ecorazzi and are against the seal hunt -are- vegetarian and many of those who aren’t vegetarian don’t still condone animal cruelty. You are free to express your opinion, everyone is, but how you express it is just as important and you seem to be very, very angry and not expressing it well.

  • Whoever…

    The post of ‘pro sealer’ just indicates the level of evolution (extremely low!) of people who support cruel methods of killing animals!!!

    They are rude, violent and ignorant people – something they accuse others of being!

    Well, maybe you should be humbler and think first before pointing your finger at other people. In case you haven’t noticed, most people who come here on a regular basis are vegetarians/vegans (me proudly included).

    And your argument that seals eat all the fish reveals how little you know about how nature works. Nature is in perfect balance – if predators eat too many preys their number will decrease and thus predators won’t have enough food the following year. This leads to the decrease of predators, giving that way the preys a chance to recover!

    The only disruptive variable on this planet is man!! We are depleting all natural resources at an alarming and very dangerous rate! So, should we also control the human over population? Maybe we should start with rich countries which are the ones that use most of the world resources. Maybe we should start with the USA, Canada, Japan… If we see things from your perspective, than it would be okay to kill a few million people!!!

    “All you eco-terrorists have enough money”

    I’m an environmentalist and I’m not rich, but because of people such as yourself I would only spend my money helping animals and the environment.

    Humans are not superior nor intelligent creatures!!!
    How does being the cruellest and most destructive species on the planet classifies us as the superior species?

    Open your eyes zombie and take a good look around you! Are our actions the actions of an intelligent, evolved species? Just because we have a few technological gadgets?

    We kill each other, we discriminate people for being different (you obviously do that pretty well), we rape, we torture, we cheat, we lie, we are destroying the only home (Earth) we have and always put money and power first, we exterminate entire species, we make wars in the name of religions and economic interests… should I go on!?

    If we are so damn intelligent, why can’t we find ways of killing animals for food without causing them any pain and stress? It would be possible if money and arrogance weren’t an issue! Unfortunately they are the issue! And you as the zombie you are (like most humans on this planet) have a long way to go in order to be able to consider yourself an evolved creature!!!!

    Please next time you want to present your arguments (which have lost all their validity after the rude insults you made) be a little humbler and more intelligent!!!

  • http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal Fisheries and Oceans Canada

    Dear Readers: Some of the information presented on the Lush website about the Canadian Seal Hunt is inaccurate. Kindly consider the following facts:

    - Seals are not skinned alive. Independent international veterinarians and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) experts concluded that the suggestions by anti-sealing groups that many seals are skinned alive are not true. In fact, EFSA said in its 2007 report that “it is incorrect to conclude that 42% of the seals in the sample were skinned alive.”

    Recent changes to the Marine Mammal Regulations (MMR) will enhance the humaneness of the annual seal hunt. These changes include the three-step process (stunning, checking, and bleeding the seals); and require sealers to verify death and animals being bled for a minimum of one minute prior to skinning.

    - The hunt is sustainable and the harp seal population is healthy and abundant. The Northwest Atlantic harp seal population is currently estimated at 5.6 million animals, nearly triple what it was in the 1970s, and has been at that level for the past ten years.

    Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets quotas at levels that ensure the health and abundance of seal herds, and considers many factors, such as climate change, ice conditions, pup mortality, natural mortality, incidental harvest or bycatch, the Greenland and Arctic hunts and commercial harvest levels when making its decision. In no way are seals – and harp seals in particular – an “endangered species”.

    - The Canadian government does not manage the seal hunt to assist the recovery of cod stocks. The impact of seals on the recovery of cod stocks is complex. Seals eat cod, but seals also eat other fish that prey on cod.

    The commercial quota is established on sound conservation principles. The management objectives for the Canadian seal hunt are to provide economic advantage for sealers while maintaining a healthy seal population.

    - Animal rights groups currently campaigning against the seal hunt cite a 2004 Ipsos Reid poll stating that the majority of Canadians are opposed to the hunt. In fact, DFO has conducted public opinion research on this subject in 2000 and 2005. The results of both polls indicated that a majority of Canadians do not object to the seal hunt if it is conducted in a humane manner.

    - Lastly, whitecoat seals are not hunted. The hunting of harp seal pups (whitecoats) and hooded seal pups (bluebacks) is illegal – and has been since 1987. Whitecoat harp seals have not been hunted since 1982. The Marine Mammal Regulations (MMR) prohibit the trade, sale or barter of the fur of these pups. The seals that are hunted are self-reliant, independent animals.

    The Canadian government will continue to defend the rights of Canadian sealers to provide a livelihood for their families through our humane, responsible and sustainable hunt.

    For accurate information about the Canadian seal hunt, please visit http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal.

  • Whoever…

    “Recent changes to the Marine Mammal Regulations (MMR) will enhance the humaneness of the annual seal hunt. These changes include the three-step process (stunning, checking, and bleeding the seals); and require sealers to verify death and animals being bled for a minimum of one minute prior to skinning.”

    Is it just me or is this one of the most absurd things ever written!?
    Does “stunning, checking, and bleeding the seals” sound humane to anyone!?

    “The Canadian government does not manage the seal hunt to assist the recovery of cod stocks. The impact of seals on the recovery of cod stocks is complex. Seals eat cod, but seals also eat other fish that prey on cod.”

    Down the drain goes the argument that seals are eating all the fish!!! :)
    Now people like ‘pro sealer’ who claim absurd things like “The seals eat all the fish, they need to be regulated like the deers” see their ‘argument’ contradicted by the Canadian official organism ‘Fisheries and Oceans Canada’!! Isn’t this bitter sweet ironic!?

    Sooner or later truth always surfaces!

    “The results of both polls indicated that a majority of Canadians do not object to the seal hunt if it is conducted in a humane manner.”

    Well if that’s the case, then my respect for Canadians has just dropped considerably!!! Sorry!!

    “conducted in a humane manner”

    Of all the videos and documentaries I’ve watched about seal hunt, I don’t think there is such a thing!!

  • http://ilovealbertabeets.blogspot.com/ claire

    Hmm. As a Canadian who studies indigenous issues in my fair country, I have mixed feelings about this subject. As we can see from the posts above, it is a polarizing issue and people love to get their hate on when it comes to the seal hunt.

    Personally, I’m a vegetarian who tries to practice non-killing. And yet I have respect for traditional hunters who kill for sustenance and have an intimate relationship with the ecology that surrounds them. No doubt, shooting seals with a high powered rifle on a motor boat is not a traditional or sustainable form of hunting, and it’s not for food.
    However no one ever talks about why the hunters do what they do. It’s because they have no choice, they are desperately poor (the UN has reported on the shocking standards of living in the communities that depend on sealing) and this is all they know. It’s the best money they can make in the area. Progress in the protection of the rainforest in South America didn’t happen until outsiders offered viable alternatives to clear cutting for ranching.
    It will be easy for advocates of the hunt to continue to dismiss the environmental and ethical arguments of activists as long as they do not offer any clear alternatives for those affected the most. In its current form the movement smacks of cultural imperialism and is an easy target for wingnuts like crazy mccrazyton who commented above…

  • MissErin

    I stand up and applaud Lush for their campaign against this atrocity.

    And this is what I have to say to all the neanderthals that are trying to defend this disgusting abuse of our beloved animal friends, “Why don’t you try taking your heads out of your asses and see that we are now in the 21st Century, not in the Paleolithic Era anymore.”

  • Declan Flynn

    I’m Irish not Canadian but the annual photo op that the Canadian seal hunt has become fascinates me. I wonder how many of the companies who are so “disgusted” by the clubbing of baby seals shown in your pictures realize that baby seals are not hunted in Canada? Also how many of their employee will happily eat lamb (baby sheep that look just as cute in photographs) or veal (calves, baby cattle, just as cute). Maybe before jumping on the annual evil seal hunt band wagon Lush should look closer to home.

    I’m amazed at how many companies cynically use issues like seal hunting to gain publicity and a couple of bytes of coverage in the blogging/internet community. Most of us are tired of it, not because we agree with the idea of clubbing cute baby seals but because we understand what really happens, a harvest, a cull, and we are sick of B list celebrities showing up on our TV screens telling us how much they love the baby seals and how cruel the world is.

  • http://i1.treknature.com/photos/4628/eagle_eating_baby_seal__1568.jpg Jim Baine

    Baby seals are a lot cuter than starving children. Therefore we are a cosmetics company practicality never comes into our tiny little minds. Vanity at its finest. LOL

  • Tyler Brewer

    I say keep KILLING them. I bet its fun

  • HIppi girl

    Wait,,, so “lush” Kills seals for their products????!!!!

  • HIppi girl

    wait no sorryyy i read it wrong… my bad.

  • Animallvr

    I applaud LUSH in backing a ban ON CANADIAN SEAL HUNTING. It is cruel, inhumane and downright dirty business. It’s been document, so all you pro-sealers can say all you want, we all know the truth about what is going on in Canada. Get on the bandwagon with the rest of the countries and stop this INHUMANE slaughtering of innocent seals. Slavery ended, so can seal hunting in Canada! It’s 2009, wake up! Thanks LUSH FOR ALL YOU DO AND YOUR PHOTOS THAT SPEAK THE TRUTH about the seal hunt. It’s documented, and thanks to the animal rights activists, the world can watch and see what happens so this can be stopped once and for all.

  • Animallvr

    PS….I’m also a vegan so lets stop comparing those who eat meat to the seal hunt!

  • Seashepherdgirl

    This is horrible. WHY DOES CANADA DO THIS I HATE THEM!

  • Nick8118

    You guys are so dum. No baby seals have been killed in 20 years. It was banned a long time ago.
    Get rid of the dam picture!

  • baxter

    I learned about Lush from the Sea Shepard website. About two months I placed my first order for Lush products. The Shampoo bars are so great. The best shampoo I have ever used. Now my wife wanted me to order some stuff for her. I will keep spreading the word about Lush. Great products and a company that supports great causes.

    Thank you

  • Liz

    Oh no! I really liked lush but this campaign just seems too cynical to me.

    Whoever said:

    “Does “stunning, checking, and bleeding the seals” sound humane to anyone!?”

    Actually, yes it does! Stunning renders the seal unconscious and therefore unable to feel the blow from the club. The sealer checks to make sure the seal is actually dead, then bleeds the body (which makes absolutely certain no seal is skinned alive). The sealers also have to go through a two week vetinary course on correct technique before they are let lose on the seals.

    The slaughter technique is certainly comparable to that used by the commercial meat industry and a wild caught seal is going to have a much happier life than any intensively farmed animal.

    I think some of the people who commented are rather distanced from nature. As a top predators, seal populatations are kept constant largely by finite food resources. Up to a limit, every seal killed is freeing up fish for another seal that doesn’t have to starve.

    I would be much more supportive of a campaign against battery farming, but I suppose chickens, pigs cows etc just aren’t cute enough.

  • Jae

    The seal hunters are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
    Lush soap is full of synthetic fragrances and other nastiness.

    This is nothing more than vilification and branding for cash at the expense of real environmentalism.

    I support the sustainable sealers.

    Now is ecorazzi going to come clean about any financial ties it has to the animal protest industry organizations?
    Nothing else can explain pushing vilification and the commoditization of compassion against a demonstrably sustainable and humane local harvest or an abundant renewable resource.

    The “eco” in ecorazzi is clearly mere window dressing.

  • Brian

    I am so pissed off at all the retarded hypocrites here. There are so many other animals that are endangered and killed more brutally. Sharks have their fin cut and thrown back into the ocean and left to drown but I guess no one cares because sharks aren’t as cute as seals. Farm animals get their throat slit consciously and left to bleed to death.

    I will refute every argument that the anti-sealers will come up with:

    -Seal hunting is cruel, bloody, inhumane and barbaric.
    Farm animals and other ENDANGERED animals get killed in a much more brutal manner than these seals.

    -The baby seals are innocent and shouldn’t be killed.
    All the other animals that America and McDonalds slaughter are also innocent. Whitecoats (baby seals) are illegal to hunt now.

    -I’m vegetarian so I’m against all animal slaughter.
    Well too bad America is a country full of obese people from eating Mc Donalds and a tiny fraction of vegetarians don’t mean a thing.

    -Humans are terrible creatures and don’t deserve to live.
    Then go kill yourself.

    -We’re in the 21st century so we shouldn’t kill animals in barbaric ways.
    Look at the farms in America or your own country. They cut the throat alive and bleed slowly to death.

    In conclusion, all against the seal hunt for the reasons above are hypocrites and stupid at best.

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