Cruel Canadian Seal Hunt Begins in Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence

ProtectSeals Team from The Humane Society of the United States on Location to Witness Hunt; Makes Photos and Video Available

WASHINGTON - Today, Canada's annual commercial seal hunt opened in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence, setting the stage for the cruel deaths of hundreds of thousands of seals. The ProtectSeals team from The Humane Society of the United States is there to bear witness and is capturing images to bring the truth of this cruel practice to the public. Last week, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans authorized the killing of 270,000 seals in 2007.

"The hunt is undeniably cruel," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of Canadian wildlife issues for The Humane Society of the United States. "Every year we see conscious seal pups stabbed with metal hooks and dragged across the ice, wounded seals left to suffer in agony and seals skinned alive."

Each March, harp seals are born on the ice floes off the east coast of Canada. This year hundreds of thousands of baby seals perished as global warming caused the sea ice to melt before they were old enough to survive in the water. Despite this ecological disaster, the Canadian government has authorized yet another 270,000 seals to be cruelly slaughtered for their fur.

The hunt began in the southern Gulf on Monday, but the Department of Fisheries and Oceans refused to issue observation permits. The DFO has provided observation permits to the ProtectSeals team to observe the hunt in the northern Gulf.

To pressure the Canadian government and the fishing industry to end the seal hunt for good, The HSUS launched a boycott of Canadian seafood in March 2005. To date, hundreds of thousands of people and thousands of seafood businesses have pledged their support for the campaign. The HSUS is also working overseas to close markets for seal products, removing the financial incentive for the sealers to kills the seals.

"We are confident the end of the commercial sealing industry is now clearly in sight," continued Aldworth.

For more information, visit www.protectseals.org.

To view video from this year's hunt, visit www.animalchannel.org.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization - backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty -- On the web at www.humanesociety.org.