LOS ANGELES, CA — All twelve American Idol finalists, including
the final two---Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo---have
joined together to sign letters to fashion designer Donatella
Versace urging her to stop using real seal fur in her designs.
A copy of the letter is below. Joining Fantasia and Diana are
Amy Adams, Camile Velasco, George Huff, Jasmine Trias, Jennifer
Hudson, John Stevens, Jon Peter Lewis, La Toya Johnson, Leah
Labelle, and Matthew Rogers.
To show their unifying support, all of the finalists also
have black polo shirts with the phrase "Club Sandwiches, Not
Seals." Photos of the finalists with the shirts are available
on wireimage.com.
Canada recently announced that over the next three years,
close to one million seals (mostly 12 days to 12 weeks in age)
will be clubbed and shot to death. Seal hunt observers have
noted that the young seals are often skinned while still alive.
The Canadian government says that seals are eating too many cod
-- yet, according to most marine mammal and fisheries
scientists, this argument is not based on scientific evidence
and ignores the real possibility that seals, which prey on
other predators of cod, may in the end have a beneficial effect
on cod stock recovery.
Other celebrities who are supporting the Protect Seals
campaign include Paris Hilton, Shannon Elizabeth, Christina
Applegate, Nicole Richie and Nick Carter of the Backstreet
Boys.
The official website for the campaign is
http://www.protectseals.org/.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's
largest animal protection organization with over seven million
members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for
animals, with active programs in companion animals, wildlife
and habitat protection, animals in research and farm animals
and sustainable agriculture. For nearly 50 years, The HSUS has
protected all animals through legislation, litigation,
investigation, education, advocacy and field work. The
non-profit organization is based in Washington, DC and has 10
regional offices across the country. For more information,
visit The HSUS' Web site - http://www.hsus.org
Dear Donatella Versace:
I am writing to ask you to discontinue using real seal
fur in your clothing designs. I recently learned about your use
of seal fur and I am appealing to you to please learn more
about the issue and why it is totally unacceptable.
For the past year, The Humane Society of the United
States, the largest animal protection organization in the U.S.,
has been actively campaigning to end the brutal annual seal
hunt in Canada. It is the largest commercial slaughter of
marine mammals on the planet that will kill close to 1 million
baby seals over the next three years. The Canadian government's
own figures show that 96.6% of the reported 286,238 seals
killed during the 2002-2003 hunt were between 12 days to 12
weeks old. These seals were beaten to death with a club or
shot.
An alarming number of the seals are skinned while alive
and conscious. Recently, an independent, international team of
veterinarians observed the hunt, and examined the corpses of
skinned seals. They found evidence that up to 40% of seals were
skinned while still able to feel pain. An observer of this
year's hunt watched as a baby seal that had been clubbed
suddenly woke up in a pile of dead seals. Obviously suffering,
the baby seal cried and cried for about 45 minutes - the
observer appealed to the sealers to put her out of her misery
but no one did.
I join millions of people who are appalled by the
brutality and unsustainability of this pointless hunt. Even the
Canadian government admits that the seals are not responsible
for the region's crashing fish populations, which have been
devastated by many years of industrial fishing. This is a
commercial hunt for fur, pure and simple. You can learn more at
protectseals.org. By using seal fur in your designs, you are
endorsing the seal hunt. I simply can not wear Versace until I
can be assured there is no seal fur in your
collections.
Please join the Humane Society of the United States by
ending your use of seal fur.
