Animal lovers and conservationists (and anyone who doesn’t like living beings to be clubbed to death) rejoice: the end of the Canadian seal hunt is imminent. Despite the country’s long-time efforts to have the ban repealed, the European Union’s ban of seal products stands, and Russia’s recent ban eliminated over 90% of Canada’s seal product exports.
The majority of Canadians oppose the seal hunt which is subsidized by their government and paid for with their tax dollars. Despite the vanishing market for seal products and stockpiles of seal pelts, the quota has been set at 400,000 seals for this year’s hunt.
With the hunt’s inevitable extinction, Canadian Sarah McLachlan is suggesting a way for Canada to end it. The singer wrote a letter on behalf of PETA to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and asked him to buy out the sealers. McLachlan writes, “The sealers—like tobacco farmers and asbestos miners—need leaders to devise a practical exit strategy for them, not waste millions more in hopeless World Trade Organization challenges or paying to stockpile pelts when buyers already have seal pelts going back several years. Won’t you lead the way?”
PETA adds, “It seems that the only reason the Canadian government is still supporting the slaughter is that both parties desperately want control of the parliamentary swing seats in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the slaughter takes place”
McLachlan, who has spoken out against the seal hunt before, joins a list of celebrities who have lent a famous voice to the seals including Ellen DeGeneres, Ke$ha, Bill Maher, Pamela Anderson, Nigel Barker and others.
Photo Credit: Paul McKinnon
About Jennifer Mishler
Jennifer is an animal advocate and activist. She is a volunteer coordinator with The Girls Gone Green, a nonprofit organization advocating for animals rights, veganism, and environmentalism. She is also an Onshore Volunteer with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and a volunteer with CJ Acres Animal Rescue Farm, a nonprofit that rescues and rehabilitates farm animals. Along with writing for Ecorazzi, she writes about veganism and animal rights on her blog, A Dog's Eye View. She lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and their three animal friends. Follow Jennifer on Twitter: @jennygoneveganView all posts by Jennifer Mishler →
