Stop the Seal Slaughter!

Harp seals are undoubtedly some of the most beautiful and gentle creatures on earth. Sadly, it seems, this gentle nature also plays a part in the animal's demise as the harp seals have the unfortunate status of ANNUALLY SUFFERING THE LARGEST SLAUGHTER OF ANY MARINE MAMMAL SPECIES ON THE PLANET.

Every spring, great numbers of harp seals gather together on the stark ice floes off the Canadian Atlantic coastline of Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec to give birth to their babies.

Commonly referred to as "whitecoats", these famous babies are indescribably astounding in their innocence, individuality, and beauty. Their images have been captured in a thousand ways and distributed around the world to become one of the world's most recognizable and well known symbols of "cuteness" and innocent beauty.

It is ironic and sad to note that all this recognition does nothing to help their plight or future as these babies are the victims of a brutal annual massacre of their species by a politically driven, propaganda spewing government.

Every year, when the time is "right" (as soon as the ice conditions permit and the seal pups start shedding their fuzzy white coats), a small group of caucasian "hunters" find their way to the floes and proceed to club, bludgeon, shoot, and skin, and dismember hundreds of thousands of mostly young harp seals in a brutal manner of which most people can hardly imagine. These seal pups are almost all 3 weeks to 4 months of age when they are killed. About 1/3 of the pups born in a given year are killed.

Although much less common since the advent of Viagra, some adult males are also killed and dismembered for their penis bone alone. ("Illegal" by the ridiculously unenforced set of "government standards and rules overseeing the hunt").

Moreover, independent observers have noted that many "targeted" seals slip away wounded into the ice holes and sea leads to be uncounted, unnoted, and unused in any way, shape, or form.

This annual killing of the innocents is not only unbelievably cruel and brutal but also makes no economic sense.

Today's typical modern day Canadian sealers are mostly fisherman, who, more often than not, are unholy participants in the corporate profit machine of a select few businesses and the government that subsidizes their cherished lifestyles.

Although the baby seals represent their first "employment opportunity" of they year, the profits made by killing the seals are miniscule compared to their "other jobs" of fishing, crabbing, and taking lobster.

The fact is, for most sealers, the majority of the proceeds of the seal slaughter go directly to the sealing ship owners and the pelt wholesalers, with the actual man on the ice making slim pickings for the dirty work.

The facts show that about 40% of the seals are actually skinned alive. Adults and resisting mothers are shot and/ or clubbed and skinned and in the case of males, have their penis bones removed. If convenient to do so, some of the bodies are then recovered and processed into pet food or used to feed the animals in fur farms.

What IS the purpose and reason for the continued killing?
The simple answer is "for their pelts"- but it isn't surprising for those who study such things that the full truth behind the reasons for the modern day Harp seal slaughter are much more complex and sinister.

A few words that come into play when attempting an explanation are: vanity, commercial greed, political scapegoats, and bloodlust.

Over 40,000 people lost their jobs. The marine ecosystem is still in a state of collapse.

This collapse of a once great industry had the much forewarned effect (by many scientists and activists who saw it coming for years) of putting great numbers of Eastern Canadian fisherman out of work and into financial hardship, looking for answers and alternatives.

Things were looking pretty bleak until a few clever Newfoundland politicians came up with an ingenious plan: they would use the harp seal herds as the official explanation for the collapse of the fish stocks and at the same time sell the idea of using the seals as an economic alternative to the cod. And so they started selling the propaganda of "the seals were eating all the cod" to the frustrated fisherman, (the sealers), and most bought it (excuse the pun), hook, line, and sinker. ]

It was at this time the highest quotas in the history of the seal hunt (up until that time) were introduced to the eager out of work fishermen.

Although the amount of Cod that Harp seals eat is a debatable issue, no matter what the numbers are, the fact of the matter is agreed by all credible scientists and biologists involved: the seals didn't cause the fishery collapse and the seals aren't going to keep it from coming back!

Interestingly, in 2005, EVEN THE DFO NOW REFUTES ITS OWN PREVIOUS PROPAGANDA AND ADMITS THAT THE SEALS DIDN'T CAUSE THE COLLAPSE OF THE COD FISHERY!
(yes, its true... although hard to locate and constantly changing locations on their website, they will now reluctantly state this un-arguable fact as needed to appease powerful scientists or a hungry media in times of political necessity)...

Credible biologists know that healthy fisheries need healthy seal populations to prosper.

And there is one more modern day reason for sealing: The seal penis bone. The seal penis bone was for several years more valuable than the price of a first grade pelt. Asian businesses eagerly sought out the seal penis bones as aphrodiasics for a booming quack industry commonly utilizing rare or endangered animal parts. (proven by countless scientific studies to be non-effective.)

These black market businesses contracted with shady Canadian fisheries businesses skilled in trafficking these animal parts- while the government vehemently denied it's even happening. Since "erectile dysfunction" drugs came to market, the market for seal penis bones has declined dramatically.

New Strategy Strikes Potential Death Blow to Seal Slaughter

Attention Seal Defenders:

Want to play a direct role in stopping the largest mass butchery of marine mammals on our planet ? Read on about an exciting new strategy designed to strike a deathblow to the seal slaughter....

More than 330,000 innocent baby seals, the vast majority of them 12 days-12 weeks old, lost their lives in the most gut-wrenchingly brutal ways possible in 2006. Another slaughter is scheduled for 2007. A unified onslaught is required to bring Canada's annual massacre to its knees!

* A new strategy has been created that targets vulnerable, small tourist-based businesses in Canada's sealing communities. Designed to inflict economic pain on a personal level, the goal is to convince them to stop the seal slaughter or risk a serious loss of revenue.
* Norway, the driving force behind the annual hunt, purchases 80% of Canadian seal pelts, and boasts processing plants on its own soil and in Canada.
* Hundreds of e-mail addresses have therefore been compiled for target regions in both Canada and Norway; these include contacts for tourist-based small businesses as well as local politicians in sealing towns/provinces.

Helping to stop the carnage is as easy as clicking "Send". Here's what you do:

* Visit http://www.tour-newfoundlandlabrador.com/ for a tour of the truth.
* Click on "things to do".
* Enter your e-mail's subject (e.g. "Tourism boycott").
* Write your message describing why you won't visit Newfoundland. Example: "My family and I will not be spending our tourist dollars in Newfoundland until the seal slaughter is history."
* Click "Submit".
* A list of businesses will appear. Click on the first one, and you will see that your message is ready to go.
* Click "Send".
* Follow the same steps for the rest of the links. (That's all! Each target requires only two clicks, and your message is sent.)
* Click on "access to the boycott database" on the "things to do" page. This takes you into the database for the rest of the provinces that participate in the seal slaughter, as well as for targets in Norway. Repeat the above steps, tailoring your subject header and message to suit the location.
* Click on "contact" for a list of government and tourism offices to target. Let them know that you have taken a tour of the website, and that you will be encouraging family, friends and co-workers to join the boycott.

Note: Due to the possibility of numerous responses, you may wish to use a separate hotmail or yahoo address to send from. (This can be disabled when you are finished.) Also please note that an effort has been made to test the e-mail addresses, but there are bound to be some "bouncers" in spite of our weeding-out process.
Problems using the system? Contact: eatingdisorder@tour-newfoundlandlabrador.com .

Ongoing anti-slaughter efforts by various organizations and individuals are gratefully acknowledged. In addition to the excellent strategies currently being employed, it is felt that regional business owners, when personally targeted, will be in a prime position to call for an end to the slaughter. Our battle for the seals will now be taken to the businesses of people who depend upon tourism for a living.

Seal Defenders, Add This Weapon To Your Arsenal Of Strategies . Together We Will Bring The Monster Down!

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