Change is in the air for seals, thanks to you!
European Union to vote on seal product ban next week.
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https://community.hsus.org/humane/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=33063765
May 1, 2009
Dear Sarah,
You'd think I'd feel defeated after what I've seen. But two weeks since returning home from documenting the Canadian seal slaughter with The The Humane Society of the United States' ProtectSeals team, I'm hopeful.
At last, we're closing in on the end of the commercial seal hunt. I'm struck by what a difference a year can make. Thanks to you and the thousands of people who donated and took action, here are just a few of the victories we can celebrate in 2009:
The HSUS Canadian seafood boycott continues to gain ground -- more than 5,000 businesses and more than 600,000 individuals have pledged not to buy Canadian seafood until the seal hunt ends for good. The fishing industry is losing money, and prices for seal skins have crashed to $15 (CAD) -- an 86 percent drop from 2006. Most fishermen aren't bothering to leave home to join the hunt, and tens of thousands of seals have been spared.
For the first time, Canadians have proposed legislation to support an end to the hunt, and we've found a true champion for seals in the government. Senator Mac Harb introduced the historic bill in the Canadian senate last month after returning from his visit to the ice floes.
The HSUS community dug deep to help seals and met The Giant Steps Foundation's matching gift challenge to raise $500,000 in just a few weeks. That means a total of $1 million dollars will immediately go toward stopping the hunt before it starts next spring.
Russia made headlines worldwide when it announced that it would ban the killing of seals less than a year old this year, effectively ending one of the biggest kills of harp seals in the world. Yuriy Trutnev, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, called the seal slaughter "bloody," and remarked that the killing of defenseless animals can't be deemed a "hunt."
I have hope for an even bigger victory still: This Tuesday, May 5, the European Union is scheduled to vote whether to ban its trade in seal products, cutting off a primary market for the Canadian sealing industry. If you sign up for our mobile alerts and follow The HSUS on Twitter, you'll be the first to know when we hear the results of Parliament's vote.
We can win this, if we stay persistent. It won't be long before the Canadian government agrees it's time to end the slaughter, if only to protect profits.
Thank you again for standing with the ProtectSeals team throughout our expedition to the ice -- I know you'll stick with us as we work to put a final end to this cruelty in the coming year.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Aldworth
Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues
The Humane Society of the United States
P.S. Check out our ProtectSeals Cause Gear at Humane Domain. Make a bold statement to end seal slaughter forever -- and feel good knowing you’re supporting our campaign!
Please note that this is an e-mail the HSUS sent to me, I just wanted to share my letter with all of my blog readers!
Friday, May 1, 2009
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Today is a day to celebrate. The European Union has slammed shut the door on trade in the products of the commercial seal slaughter.
The Canadian government used every trick in the book to try to derail the ban: massive lobbying, misinformation, and even threats of trade reprisals. But the EU stood its ground and honored its citizens’ opposition to this trade in cruelty. By doing so, the EU has saved millions of seals from a horrible fate.
Every year, the ProtectSeals team has endured hazardous conditions to document the seal hunt. We are committed to showing the world that the Canadian government is lying when it claims that the hunt is humane.
On our trips to the ice, the ProtectSeals team has brought key opinion shapers such as Paul McCartney and Swedish Member of the European Parliament Carl Schlyter. After their trips, neither has wavered in speaking out against the hunt. Shortly after his trip to the ice, Schlyter drafted the first version of today’s EU ban. Our hunt footage was directly responsible for convincing the rest of the EU to agree to the ban. It gives me enormous satisfaction to know that we haven’t just documented the hunt, we have made history.
What Does It Mean?
This is the beginning of the end for the Canadian seal hunt. The Canadian government estimates that losing this primary market will cost Canada’s sealing industry $6.6 million (CAD) each year. The hunt brought in less than $7 million last year. It's not hard to do the math.
Just the promise of an EU ban was enough to drive the prices for seal fur down to $15 (CAD) per skin -- a decline of 86 percent since 2006. As a result, many sealers stayed home. Out of this year's quota of 280,000 harp seals, fewer than 60,000 have been killed so far.
Now that the EU has banned its trade in seal products, countless more seals will live their lives in peace from this year forward.
What’s Next?
Canadian seal hunt supporters won’t give up just yet. With government subsidies still in hand, the sealing industry will be chasing down new markets. The ProtectSeals campaign is working to convince all targeted nations to follow the EU’s example.
We’re keeping the pressure on the Canadian fishing industry and government with the global boycott of Canadian seafood products. Since the boycott began, the Canadian fishing industry has suffered a $750 million (CAD) drop in the value of snow crab exports alone to the United States.
Canadian Senator Mac Harb has introduced his nation’s first bill to end the hunt. The ProtectSeals campaign is striving to convince other members of Canada's Parliament to support the bill.
Yes, there is still much to do -- and if you'd like to help, please visit humanesociety.org/protectseals to learn how. But for the moment, please join me in celebrating this historic victory. Thank you for fighting alongside me to make this day possible. The seals could not ask for stronger allies.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Aldworth
Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues
The Humane Society of the United States
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