help end the yearly Seal Hunt

[sammy101]

Please sign this petition in hopes to stop the yearly seal hunt in Canada.
:(

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/566342047?z00m=73616&z00m=73616&ltl=1140819873

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I've signed - thanks for posting

[king2005]

this has been posted before & no matter what you do, it will never end, as they are not wiping out the species & they are following the laws on how to kill them. The ONLY thing the seal hunts need is more police to inforce the laws, thats where this problem lays.

[lizbud]

I've signed this before & I'll continue to support this worthy cause.
Check it out please.....

http://www.protectseals.org/

[kimboe]

I singed

[lizbud]

Some hope for the end of this brutal business.


Strategy for Success: As the Hunt Approaches, Support for Seals Grows



©2005 HSUS/Brian Skerry
As the start date of the 2006 Canadian seal hunt draws closer, HSUS's ProtectSeals campaign continues working worldwide to prove to the Canadian government and the fisheries industry that the economic costs of its annual commercial seal slaughter are far too high for the hunt to continue.

There is reason to hope that the baby seals may be left in peace on their birthing grounds this spring. More and more people and companies are joining our Canadian seafood boycott, Greenland has banned imports of Canadian seal products, and the anti-seal hunt Conservative Party has recently won power in Canada. Read on to learn more about these developments, and about what The HSUS continues to do this winter to protect seals.

Greenland Says No to Canadian Seal Products

In January 2006, DR, the leading Danish television station, aired footage of the 2005 Canadian commercial seal hunt obtained by The HSUS. The footage sparked a massive public outcry in Denmark and its protectorate, Greenland. Denmark's Minister of Justice, Lene Espersen, told the national press how deeply the footage had disturbed her, and a few hours later, a letter from Greenland's government announced the decision to stop imports of seal skins from Canada. Because Denmark and Greenland provide one of the larger markets for Canada's seal pelts, and traditionally purchase between 15 and 20% of the fur skins, the decision deals a wounding blow to the profitability of any future hunts.

Election Results Could Be Good News for Seals

Canada's federal election recently turned Canada's political environment on its head, and the historic changes may prove more fertile ground to save the seals. The Conservative Party of Canada—the only major federal party in Canada to have ever opposed the commercial seal hunt—won the election, and installed Conservative leader Stephen Harper as Canada's new prime minister. With the changes, ProtectSeals is optimistic about the potential for working with the new administration to abolish the commercial seal hunt.

A Growing Boycott Cuts into Profits

The list of restaurants and seafood businesses that have signed the ProtectSeals pledge to limit or eliminate their purchases of Canadian seafood has grown to more than 300. They are joined by nearly 140,000 individuals.

The ProtectSeals campaign continues pushing to bring new restaurants on board and to spotlight businesses that join our campaign. In the last few weeks alone, more than 25 Los Angeles restaurants have joined the campaign. And we encourage everyone who cares about seals to ask the restaurants and seafood retailers in their area to sign the Canadian seafood boycott pledge at www.protectseals.org.

Bans Blossom in Europe

The United States banned the trade in seal products in 1972, and there is almost no market for seal products in Canada. Almost all Canadian seal skins are shipped to Europe for processing and resale, and several European nations besides Denmark are now taking steps to ban those shipments. At the forefront is Belgium, which has already banned the import of all seal products. The HSUS is working with our partners in the Fur Free Alliance to ensure European governments have accurate information about the horrors of the seal hunt, as well as the tools they need to end the trade in seal products forever.

Spreading the News in Newfoundland

The Canadian government is publicly denying the economic effects of the Canadian seafood boycott. In order to ensure that North Atlantic fishing communities are aware the seal hunt will cut into profits, not increase them, ProtectSeals will roll out a major radio and print advertising campaign in Newfoundland over the next several months. "We plan to tell the truth: that the boycott is strong, it is growing, and fishermen need to take it seriously because there will be devastating financial ramifications for the North Atlantic fishing community if the seal hunt is allowed to continue," said ProtectSeals Campaign Director, Pat Ragan.

International Day of Action for the Seals

On March 15, groups around the world will gather outside their local Canadian Embassies. Last year's Day of Action successfully brought together activists from around the United States and the world. As the Day of Action approaches, continue to check www.protectseals.org for more information.

The HSUS Will Bear Witness

ProtectSeals still hopes that the campaign will turn the tide before this year's hunt. But if the government allows the slaughter to begin again in late March, we are preparing to send a team to the ice to witness the hunt again. We will deploy our entire team of hunt experts, writers, and videographers to the ice to document the suffering and killing—and we will make sure the entire world sees the truth about Canada's cruel seal hunt.

[koxka]

I signed

[rg_girlca]

I signed it.

The sad part of this,isthat this has been going on for so many years. I can remember this when I was a young girl. I was around the age of 13-14 years old, when I was switching the channels on the TV, by hand mind you, when I came across this adorable little baby seal on the ice. What happened next sickened me. You all know what I mean. Since then I have signed many a petitionsand I will to continue to sign them until this is STOPPED once and for all.

To think that many of these precious creatures of God are still conscious and able to feel pain is just so disturbing.

[king2005]

To think that many of these precious creatures of God are still conscious and able to feel pain is just so disturbing.

Thats against the Law! The animal must be dead before it is left, or it must be dead as quickly as it can be done. All seals must be checked for life signs before moving onto the next seal.

Its the bad hunters that make the hunt really bad.

[Cataholic]

Thats against the Law! The animal must be dead before it is left, or it must be dead as quickly as it can be done. All seals must be checked for life signs before moving onto the next seal.

Its the bad hunters that make the hunt really bad.


I am sorry to be so blunt- but, here, in the US, murder is against the law, and it happens everyday. The videos show what they show, and the pups WERE alive and suffering.

It isn't 'bad' hunters that make the hunt 'really' bad. It is HUNTERS that make the hunt inhumane. Plain and simple. Period. End of story.

[luvofallhorses]

I signed it.

[lizbud]

The killing has started today. To show their compassion for these
baby seals, they will not kill any until the pups are 3 weeks old. :(


http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/03/24/seal.hunt.ap/index.html

[CagneyDog]

How sickening.
I think the hunt starts today.

[lizbud]

Why Do They Club Seals?

Can't they just shoot them?

By Daniel Engber
Posted Thursday, March 30, 2006, at 6:55 PM ET



Harp seal

Animal welfare activists clashed with seal-pup hunters in Canada this week, just a few days into the annual sealing season. A commercial vessel rammed an inflatable boat filled with protesters over the weekend, and hunters threw seal guts. Animal rights groups oppose the clubbing and shooting of young seals. Why do hunters club seals?

It's safe and easy, and it preserves the seal's valuable pelt. Federal laws in Canada give a sealer three ways to hunt his prey. He can shoot a seal with a rifle or shotgun—provided it's above a minimum caliber or gauge; he can break its head with a blunt club (like a baseball bat) that must be at least 2 feet long; or he can smash in its brains with something called a hakapik—a 4- or 5-foot wooden pole with a bent, metal spike affixed to the end.

In general, a sealer will use a hakapik or club if at all possible. That's because with these weapons, it's much easier to aim a blow directly at the seal pup's head. One swing from a hakapik will usually kill a pup right away. By law, you have to keep clubbing the seal in the forehead until you know for sure that it's dead. Sealers are supposed to "palpate" a pup's skull after they've clubbed it, to feel the caved-in bone beneath the skin and blubber. Or they can perform the "blink reflex" test, which consists of touching the seal's eyeball—if it blinks, you've got to club it again. (Few sealers actually perform these tests, though; some say they can feel the skull collapse as they make contact with their clubs.)


A sealer chooses his weapon depending on the conditions of the hunt. You can only club a seal if you can climb down on to the ice next to it, but the ice isn't always sturdy enough to support a full-grown man and his hakapik. On the off-shore hunting grounds near Newfoundland, the seal pups tend to sit on small, unstable pieces of ice, so sealers must use rifles to kill them. On the other major hunting ground—the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the hunt began on Saturday—the hunters take advantage of larger floes to leave their vessels with clubs in hand. Conditions also vary from year to year: This season's warm weather has led to thin ice shelves in the gulf, so hunters have had to use their rifles much more than they typically would.

Why not just shoot the baby seals? When you're firing from a boat that's bobbing in the water, it's hard to get a good shot. And if you don't hit the seal in the head, you're less likely to kill it quickly. That means you'll either prolong its suffering (until you can get close enough to club it), or, worse, you'll give it the chance to shuffle off into the water with its pelt still on. Even if you killed a seal with a shot to the body, you'd cost yourself some money, since each bullet hole reduces the value of a pelt. Sealers also say that stray bullets can ricochet off the ice and injure bystanders

[moosmom]

Lizbud,

Your post describing the kill made me sick to my stomach.

Cataholic,


It isn't 'bad' hunters that make the hunt 'really' bad. It is HUNTERS that make the hunt inhumane. Plain and simple. Period. End of story

Amen to that!!!

Bridget Bardot has been protesting these vicious hunts as long as I've been alive. She was on television just the other day voicing her disgust at the whole thing, saying this would probably be her last year trying to make a difference.