Heather Mills McCartney has tirelessly committed her time and energy to shining an international spotlight on the cruelty inflicted on animals on all continents. The model, television personality and author is concerned with creating a more humane world through her work for charities such as Adopt a Minefield and in opposition to the dog and cat fur trade and the Canadian seal hunt.

Her online petition to urge the European Union to ban the import of dog and cat fur from Asia has amassed hundreds of thousands of signatures. Her appearance on the Larry King Show to denounce Canada's seal hunt brought the reality of the hunt into millions of living rooms around the world.

"We owe a great debt of gratitude to Heather Mills McCartney," remarked HSUS Senior Vice President for Wildlife and Habitat Protection, John Grandy. "She has been an indefatigable champion of the baby harp seals who have so long suffered and perished at the hands of Canadian fishermen. On a blisteringly cold and windy day in March, she brought the international media with her to witness and record the purity and innocence to be found in the seal nursery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. No one who traveled onto the ice with her, saw those pictures or heard her being interviewed on that day could ever forget her concern for those baby seals who would soon be preyed upon by sealers. And she has continued to call upon everyone to join her in demanding that the Canadian government and fishing industry end the hunt forever. Heather Mills McCartney is true friend to these helpless creatures."

HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle sums up her contributions this way: "Heather Mills McCartney has made an enormous difference for animals and the work of The Humane Society of the United States—giving traction to legislation in the European Union to ban the sale of dog and cat fur, persuading international retailers to stop selling fur and raising worldwide consciousness about the clubbing of baby seals in Atlantic Canada. We are so grateful for her passion and her tireless efforts on behalf of animals, and The Humane Society of the United States and I look forward to working with her in the years ahead on major issues related to the needless abuse of animals."

Posted July 24, 2006