End the Canadian Seal Hunt Now!
- by: Taylor Bratton
- recipient: Stephen Harper, Prime Minister
The Canadian government is using taxpayer money to fund a brutal massacre on baby harp seals. They are sending ice-breakers out on the the ice sheets so people can bludgeon baby seals to death so they can sell the seals to Asia for very low prices. Canada has enacted a law to prohibit anyone from getting within 100 feet of a seal, unless of course they are going to kill them. Its time for Canada to move on from this bloody practice as well as provide other jobs for the sealers who are decimating the ecology of the ice sheets. Say NO to the murder of defenceless seal pups!
Dear Prime Minister _______:
I am writing to express my condemnation of the commercial seal hunt. It has become apparent that the Liberal Government of Canada holds no regard for the welfare, or the very survival of the harp and hooded seals species.Your recent decision to authorize the slaughter of more than a million seals over the next three years is outrageous and indefensible. Already, in 2002, you allowed more than 307,000 animals to be slaughtered - the highest kill level we have witnessed since 1967.
I was horrified to learn of the 2001 report produced by an international team of veterinarians, which concludes that up to 42% of seals are skinned alive. It is deplorable that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans received this report, and still has refused to address the problem. Furthermore, I am aware that more than 660 thoroughly documented violations of the Canadian Criminal Code and Marine Mammal Regulations, including the skinning of live seals, have been submitted to the DFO -and that they have refused to lay a single charge in response.
Equally unacceptable are the recent revisions to the Marine Mammal Regulations, which call for the return of large vessels to the hunt, the establishment of licenses for culling seals, and the reopening of the hunt for blueback hooded seals. Moreover, rather than addressing the problem, the revised MMRs actually legitimize the established practice of shooting several seals prior to ensuring each one is dead.
It is absolutely unacceptable that the federal government of Canada has so deliberately and recklessly encouraged the decimation of a wildlife population that is beloved by people all over the world. Recent polling clearly shows that close to 80% of Americans and Europeans oppose the seal hunt, with a substantial number willing to boycott Canadian products and tourism as a result.
Certainly, your recent actions will guarantee a severe international backlash. I demand that you act according to the will of the majority of Canadian people, 85% of whom believe that seals under a year of age should be protected from all hunting.
End this cruel and unsustainable hunt for harp and hooded seals permanently.
Sincerely,
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