IFAW News Release: U.S. Senate Moves Closer to Condemning Canadia n Seal Hunt

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

 

 

 

 

Here is our latest release on the Canadian seal hunt - good news for the

seals. Fifteen U.S. Senators have signed the Levin-Collins Resolution in

opposition to the hunt.

 

 

 

 

 

Let me know if you have any questions,

 

 

 

 

 

Kerry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Immediate Release<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =

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Chris Cutter, IFAW, U.S. Tel: 508-744-2066, Email:

<ccutter ccutter

 

 

 

Editors: For more information visit www.ifaw.org

 

 

 

 

U.S. Senate Moves Closer to Condemning Canadian Seal Hunt

 

 

 

 

(Yarmouth Port, Mass. - 3 May 2004) - The U.S. Senate moved one step closer

to an official condemnation of Canada's seal hunt when the Senate Foreign

Relations Committee recommended the Levin-Collins Resolution to the full

Senate. The resolution, which was introduced in November 2003, urges " the

Government of Canada to end the commercial seal hunt... Whereas the

persistence of this cruel and needless commercial hunt is inconsistent with

the well-earned international reputation of Canada... " 15 senators have

already signed on as co-sponsors to the resolution, the next step for the

bipartisan resolution will be consideration by the full Senate.

 

 

 

" This move illustrates that the international opposition to the Canadian

seal hunt is not a fringe opinion, but a worldwide consensus that ranges

from the halls of government to the man on the street, " said IFAW President

Fred O'Regan. " The issues are the same as they were when IFAW began, 35

years ago, to stop the hunt. Killing baby seals doesn't make sense

economically, ecologically or in regard to the humane treatment of animals. "

 

 

 

The move by the U.S. Senate parallels similar responses around the world to

this year's hunt, the largest in several decades. The Committee for Foreign

Affairs of the Italian Parliament recently adopted a resolution to ban the

import of sealskins and seal products. All four Dutch political parties

support a move by the EU to ban sealskins and Austria's Green Party has

brought forward a motion in parliament to consider a ban.

 

 

 

Despite global opposition, Canada's hunt for baby seals continues. Seals as

young as 12 days old are killed legally between November 15 and May 15. This

year's hunt will continue until the industry reaches its quota of 350,000

seals - the largest in history. So far, 321,199 harp seals have been killed

this year.

 

 

 

IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare - <http://www.ifaw.org/>

www.ifaw.org) consistently observes and documents the hunt each year,

bringing media and parliamentarians from around the world to witness the

cruelty of the slaughter. IFAW has submitted video evidence of more than 660

probable violations of Canada's marine mammal regulations to the Department

of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). To date, no charges have been placed. These

abuses include skinning live seals, dragging live seals across the ice with

hooks and shooting seals and leaving them to suffer.

 

 

 

To learn more about how to help seals, visit <http://www.ifaw.org/>

www.ifaw.org and sign the Million Signatures for a Million Seals Petition.

 

 

 

About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)

IFAW (The International Fund for Animal Welfare) was founded in 1969 to end

the Canadian baby seal hunt. Over the next two decades, IFAW won many hard

fought victories for seals, including the 1982 European Union ban of

whitecoat and blueback sealskins. These aggregate victories almost stopped

the baby seal hunt in the 1980s - arguably the most visible and important

that has ever occurred in the animal welfare movement. To learn how to help

IFAW protect seals, please visit www.ifaw.org

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wild and domestic animals throughout the world by reducing commercial

exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats, and assisting animals in

distress. IFAW seeks to motivate the public to prevent cruelty to animals and to

promote animal welfare and conservation policies that advance the well-being of

both animals and people.

 

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