International Day of Protest Against Canada's Seal Hunt

The Issues

Between 2002 and 2005, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans facilitated the death of almost a million seal pups. The government continues to approve and support this annual slaughter off Newfoundland's northeast coast.

Canada has developed a market for seal skins, both within Canada and for export to Europe and Asia, since 2002. Each pelt represents the irreplaceable life of a harp pup who was too young to swim away from the club. Mother seals defending their pups have been killed along with the youngsters.

Soon, the Canadian government will unveil a new plan to kill seal pups in 2006 and beyond. We call on all people to join us in urging Canadian Consulate Daniel Sullivan and Canada's new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to end the seal hunt now.

Confronting Canada's Spring Hunt for Seals: A Call to Action

Get Involved

Join the Protest

Over 200 people joined us to protest at the Canadian Consulate in New York in 2006! Thank you! Unless the killing stops, Friends of Animals will return on March 15, 2007.

Foreign tourism brought in $18 billion in revenue to Canada in 2004, with a large portion coming from New England visitors. 78 million dollars was spent to boost the tourism industry—a figure far larger than the annual revenues from dead seals ($16.5 million). A foreign-tourism boycott supported by national animal advocacy groups would put pressure where it belongs—on the Canadian government—to end the seal hunt and the federal subsidies that support it.

Make Yourself Heard

Ask Canadian Consulate General Daniel Sullivan and Canada's new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to make Canada a beacon of a humane global society. Supporting Newfoundlanders doesn't have to mean supporting the seal market. For contact information, click here.

Buyer Beware

The United States bans products made from seal pups, but elsewhere seal skin handbags and coats are sold by Birger Christensen, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Marni, Prada, and Versace. If you take nutritional supplements, be sure any omega-3 is extracted from flax seeds or hemp seeds and not from seal oil.