US Senate Resolution Demands Canada End Seal Hunt

US Senate Resolution Demands Canada End Seal Hunt
International Fund for Animal Welfare
11-26-3

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The International Fund for Animal Welfare
applauded the U.S. Senate for introducing a powerful bipartisan Senate
Resolution today urging the government of Canada to end the needless
slaughter of harp and hooded seals - the world's largest hunt for marine
mammals, and arguably, with up to 42 per cent of seals skinned alive,
the cruelest.

"We are profoundly appreciative of Senator Levin's commitment to
seeking solidarity within the U.S. Senate against Canada's commercial
seal hunt," IFAW seals campaigner Rebecca Aldworth said. "The
Humane Society of the United States, along with many other groups
and individuals worldwide join the collective voice of IFAW and its
2 million donors in calling on the U.S. Senate to pass Senator Levin's
resolution and demonstrate that America will not tolerate this
unnecessary slaughter."

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans allowed the highest kill
level ever when it introduced a plan last February to kill nearly
one million seals over the next three years. Ninety-five per cent
of seals killed are under three months of age.

Senator Levin's resolution cited a 2001 study by an independent
team of veterinarians as evidence for the resolution. Their study
found that the seal hunt failed to comply with basic animal welfare
standards and that Canadian government regulations with regard
to humane killing were neither respected nor enforced. The study
concluded that well over one third of the seals studied were likely
skinned alive.

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.

"Paul Martin has made it clear that renewing Canada's
relationship with the U.S. is one of his highest priorities,"
Aldworth said. "The U.S. Senate Resolution is confirmation
that a good place to begin would be to stop killing millions
of seal pups for products nobody wants or needs."

The American public has also spoken out against the commercial
seal hunt. A survey released in December 2002 by the Humane
Society of the Unites States found that 79 per cent of Americans
oppose the killing seals for their fur. The poll also indicated
American opposition to the hunt could critically affect tourism and
related economic interests, particularly in Atlantic Canada.

© 2003 International Fund for Animal Welfare
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=77298