Written by PETA
Oof.
I imagine this is what a certain fur hag might look like on a "good" day.
PETA's "Grim Reapers" recently greeted tourists at a crowded tour-bus stop in Toronto to reveal frightening facts about Canada's shame: the cruel slaughter of baby seals for their fur. Their scary outfits didn't stop tourists from high-fiving them—and tour bus operators were eager to point out our demonstrators to their passengers.
I'm dying to know: Which fugly fur wearer does our "Grim Reaper" most remind you of?
Written by Karin Bennett
What do you get when you combine our favorite hockey player with one of our favorite faux-chicken sandwiches?
Hat trick! Georges Laraque was so impressed by a Canadian KFC's vegan sandwich, he ordered two more to go.
While there is one major animal offense that keeps Canada in the penalty box, KFCs in Canada offer an awesome vegan sandwich—and they are also making efforts to phase in controlled-atmosphere killing. Partner that with Georges Laraque's insatiable hunger for animal liberation and I'd say you have one of the sweetest assists Canada's seen in some time.
Written by Shawna Flavell
Georges Laraque (or "Big George" to friends and fans) is known for duking it out on the ice as the star enforcer for the Montréal Canadiens, but these days he's fighting for animal rights.
Georges already protested a fur expo in Montréal, and now he's just delivered a slap shot to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the bloody seal slaughter. Georges sent a letter to Prime Minister Harper, writing, "Blood on the ice is fine when it comes to Canada's national sport because players are willing participants, but the blood of helpless baby seals that stains the ice each year is Canada's shame."
He joins other notables who have denounced the slaughter, including Canadian Senator Mac Harb, British Columbia native Pamela Anderson, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and President Obama.
I think everyone can agree that this hockey champ is a pro at sticking up for animals.
With baby seal corpses littering Canadian ice floes, this year's seal slaughter has finally ended—but the outrage over the Canadian government's refusal to stop the killing is just getting revved up.
Outcry against the seal slaughter is echoing around the globe. The European Union and the U.S. have banned seal products, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for an immediate end to the slaughter, and world leaders have spoken out against the massacre. Demonstrations from London to Hamburg and Los Angeles to Toronto have made headlines, and people all over the world have sent a strong, united message that the seal bloodbath must end.
It's clear that the Canadian seal slaughter is quickly losing favor and support: This year, about three-fourths of the seals who were expected to be bludgeoned or shot to death were spared. But we still need your help to make sure that Canada doesn't think the protests will end just because the killing has slowed.
One dead seal is still too many, so we've revved up our campaign to get the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to use its clout to stop the seal slaughter. Check out our new Web site OlympicShame2010.com and give us a hand, won't you?
Plainly put: Money talks, and governments are slow to change the status quo unless they are compelled by an overwhelming response from outside forces.
Canada produces 85 percent of the world's maple syrup, and the maple leaf is known throughout the world to represent Canada. And, unlike seal skins, which have been banned throughout the U.S. and Europe, Canadian maple syrup is a product found in many grocery stores and kitchen pantries. A boycott of this iconic product will send a strong message to the Canadian government that people living both in and outside the country will not stand by while baby seals are beaten and skinned.
The Canadian government has claimed that it continues to support the seal massacre for economic reasons. By boycotting maple syrup, continuing to hold demonstrations around the world, and targeting the upcoming 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, we will send the message that continuing the massive commercial seal slaughter will hurt Canada's economy far more than it helps it. Every time someone takes PETA's online pledge to boycott Canadian maple syrup, we will send a copy directly to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada's Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day so that they realize how hard their continued support of the seal slaughter is hitting them in the wallet.
Canadian officials may turn a blind eye to seals' immense suffering, but the outcry against the seal slaughter echoes around the globe. Many compassionate Canadians have already spoken out against the slaughter, and PETA hopes that, as this year's slaughter draws to a close, Canadians will rally to defend their international reputation and tell their government once and for all that they will no longer stand by as this bloody massacre takes place in their country.
As a pancake and seal lover, I'll be buying only American maple syrup until Canada comes to its senses. Won't you join us?
Olympic official Carol Gross really wants our Vancouver Olympics 2010 T-shirts off CafePress.com. As in, she literally wants them and all merchandise bearing PETA's anti-fur parody of the Olympic logo removed from the CafePress Web site. Gross e-mailed CafePress asking that it "take necessary steps to prevent Sellers to advertise [sic] Olympic merchandise via use of Olympic trademarks …."
Say what?
Because this is obviously a parody of that, PETA's legal team sent a letter to Carol Gross explaining why we will continue our efforts to protect seals from the bloody slaughter by selling merchandise bearing our protected spoof logo.
We might be open to striking a deal, though. If the Olympic Committee were to help us convince the Canadian government to stop allowing hundreds of thousands of baby seals to be slaughtered annually, maybe we'd agree to quit parodying the Olympic logo.
Why maple syrup?
Canada produces about 85 percent of the world's maple syrup, an industry that rakes in around $C213 million each year. Our newest campaign encourages restaurants and grocery chains to boycott Canada's multimillion-dollar syrup industry. By persuading businesses to sign our pledge, you'll be letting the Canadian government know that the country is going to get a serious hit in the wallet unless it declares an end to the seal massacre.
If your local eatery is already using American maple syrup, pour it on thick (it's safe to use Aunt Jemima and Log Cabin too) and thank the owner that no seal blood was spilled for your breakfast or brinner.
Posted by Shawna Flavell
The number of people who are willing to stand by as the Canadian government allows seals to be slaughtered each year by the hundreds of thousands is decreasing fast.
Recently, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed U.S. Senate Resolution 84, calling for an immediate end to the annual seal slaughter. This vote comes less than a week after the European Union voted to ban the sale of seal fur in its member countries.
The most powerful leaders in the world have voiced outrage about this barbaric tradition, and their cabinet members are in full agreement. Even Canada's own senators have tried to introduce bills to end the slaughter.
WAKE UP, CANADA! The rest of the world is trying to open your eyes, and you've hit the snooze button too many times already.
Seals around the world are throwing up their flippers in celebration—the European Parliament voted today to end the sale of seal products across the European Union (EU)!
This vote adds to the pressure on Canada to end the seal slaughter. It shows that the EU Parliament recognizes the inhumanity of the annual massacre. The ban will undoubtedly deal a strong blow to sealers' profits—and that, in turn, will result in less blood on the ice.
The EU's decision is in line with the wishes of the majority of European citizens and all good people across the globe, including, of course, all Canadian citizens who are ashamed that their country is party to the bloody seal slaughter. Eyes now turn to the Canadian government: It has threatened to challenge the EU ban on trade in seal products at the World Trade Organization. Instead, it should be using its own laws to ban the seal slaughter.
In PETA's new ad, Joel Gibb of Canadian indie band The Hidden Cameras announced that "Canada's Club Scene Sucks." and he's not talking about JELL-O shots.
Today, Joel and the band teamed up with PETA for a public unveiling of the ad in front of Queen's Park in Toronto.
The Hidden Cameras performed a short acoustic set, during which fans sang along to "Animals Belong Alone." The chorus goes like this: "We take and take, we know it's wrong. The earth belongs to animals, and animals belong alone." The performance must have been a good one, because a group of people at the park to protest the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka even joined in.
Talk about compassion bringing strangers together!
Click here to find out more about my new fave band, the Hidden Cameras.
Here are some photos from the event:
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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