AR-News: Senators Lugar and Biden Sign on to Resolution Condemning Canadian Seal Slaughter

[Political Animal]

SENATORS LUGAR AND BIDEN SIGN ON TO RESOLUTION CALLING
ON 
CANADA TO END COMMERCIAL SEAL HUNT 

Senate Foreign Relations Committee to Recommend
Resolution to Full Senate

WASHINGTON—A U.S. Senate resolution urging the
Canadian government to end the needless slaughter of
harp and hooded seals has gained the support and
co-sponsorship of Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) and
Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE). “We applaud the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and its leaders for
unequivocally condemning the Canadian seal hunt,” said
Dr. John Grandy, senior vice president of wildlife
programs for The Humane Society of the United States
(The HSUS). “Greenpeace USA and International Fund for
Animal Welfare (IFAW) join us in thanking the
Committee because there is simply no justification for
Canada’s killing of harp seals. By putting the
Committee on record against the unconscionable and
needless slaughter of seals for fur, they have
conveyed to the Canadian Prime Minister and the rest
of the world that the practice must be ended once and
for all.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today favorably
reported the resolution for action by the full Senate.
The resolution made the following points:

•	Last year, the Canadian government announced that it
would permit the clubbing and shooting of close to one
million baby harp seals over the next three years, the
highest quota for seal killing in Canada’s history. 

•	This year’s hunt has already resulted in the deaths
of over 320,000 seals – mostly between the ages of
twelve days and three months old.  

•	The Canadian seal hunt is the largest commercial
kill of marine mammals in the world. 

•	A 2001 study by an independent team of veterinarians
found that up to 42 percent of the seals examined were
likely skinned while alive and conscious.  

•	The world community is condemning the hunt, with
initiatives to ban seal products under consideration
in Italy and Belgium.

Greenpeace USA has joined with other animal protection
organizations of the world to say that this abhorrent
practice has to end. “If the Canadian  government
continues to promote this horrific and needless
slaughter as the only way it knows to help the people
of Newfoundland and Labrador, then the imagination and
leadership abilities of Canada’s leaders are in as
great jeopardy as the seals themselves,” said John
Passacantando, executive director, Greenpeace USA.

The resolution was originally introduced by Senator
Carl Levin (D-MI) and strongly supported by Susan
Collins (R-ME). The Humane Society of the United
States along with other animal welfare and
conservation groups have actively campaigned against
the Canadian seal hunt, running full page
advertisements in major U.S. newspapers and
encouraging their members to think twice about
traveling to Canada.

“Canada’s commercial seal hunt is a cruel and outmoded
industry with no place in the 21st century,” said Fred
O’Regan, President of IFAW.  “Today’s bipartisan
action in the United States Senate is another step
toward a better world for animals and people.”

Aside from the inherent cruelty associated with the
clubbing and shooting of the seals, the resolution
also pointed to the inability of the Canadian
government to enforce the quota, citing the fact that
many of the seals shot during the hunt escape beneath
the ice and die later after suffering.  These “struck
and lost” animals are not counted against the quota,
causing significant inaccuracies in the official kill
statistics.  Finally, the resolution refuted several
arguments made by the Canadian government and sealing
lobby in favor of the hunt, including their arguments
that it is vital to the economy of Atlantic Canada and
will help restore depleted cod stocks.

The Humane Society of the United States is the
nation’s largest animal protection organization with
more than eight million members and constituents. The
HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active
programs in companion animals and equine protection,
wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research
and farm animals and sustainable agriculture. The HSUS
protects all animals through legislation, litigation,
investigation, education, advocacy and fieldwork. The
non-profit organization, which is celebrating its 50th
anniversary in 2004, is based in Washington, DC and
has 10 regional offices across the country. On the web
at www.hsus.org or www.protectseals.org

The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L St., NW
Washington, DC 20037
Promoting the Protection of All Animals
www.protectseals.org

www.ifaw.org
www.greenpeaceusa.org 



	
		
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