IFAW press release: Canada kicks off annual hunt for baby seals

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

The Canadian seal hunt began today off the ice floes in Atlantic Canada. 319,500

seals are expected to be killed over the next few weeks. In opposition, Italy,

Belgium and the Netherlands are creating legislation to ban seal products and

the U.S. and the European Council are creating resolutions condemning the hunt

 

Let me know if you have any questions,

 

Kerry

 

Kerry Branon

Communications Coordinator

IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)

765 Attucks Lane

Hyannis, MA 02601

508-744-2068

kbranon

www.ifaw.org <http://www.ifaw.org/>

 

Canada kicks off annual hunt for baby seals<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =

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(Charlottetown, Canada - 29 March 2005) - Canada's annual hunt for baby seals

began today according to IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare

www.ifaw.org <http://www.ifaw.org/> ). Over the next several weeks up to 319,500

baby seals will be killed for their fur. Canada's annual seal hunt is the

largest marine mammal hunt in the world with a three-year kill quota of almost

one million seals. Last year, according to statistics provided by the Canadian

government, 365,971 seals were killed and 96.6% of those were less than 3 months

old. Seals are skinned for their pelts and then sold to fur distributors to feed

the demand of the fashion industry.

 

 

 

" Many people mistakenly think Canada stopped hunting baby seals decades ago, "

said Fred O'Regan, IFAW's president and CEO. " But the size of Canada's modern,

commercial hunt is bigger now than it has been in 50 years. "

 

 

 

Each spring the entire Northwest Atlantic harp seal population migrates to the

East Coast of Newfoundland to mate, give birth and nurse their young. In one of

nature's great wildlife spectacles, thousands of seals are born on the pristine

ice floes off eastern Canada in early March.

 

The hunt begins in late March when the seal pups are weaned from their mother

and begin to moult. Seal pups may be legally killed once they begin to moult

their fluffy white coats, usually at 12-14 days old.

 

 

 

IFAW is the only organization in the world to consistently observe and document

the hunt each year. For the last 36 years IFAW has brought media and government

officials from around the world to view the hunt firsthand. This year, European

parliamentarians and media from around the globe are observing the hunt with

IFAW's help.

 

 

 

The international community is appalled by the cruelty of Cananda's hunt for

baby seals. In opposition, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands are creating

legislation to ban seal products and the U.S. and the European Council are

creating resolutions condemning the hunt. In the U.S. seals and other marine

mammals have been protected from hunting since 1972 under the Marine Mammal

Protection Act.

 

 

 

About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)

 

IFAW 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. Three years ago the

seal hunt returned to levels unseen in decades and it is bigger than ever. To

learn how to help IFAW protect seals, 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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