Written by PETA
Iggy Pop had a few choice words for Norway's minister of foreign affairs before his performance in Bodø this week, expressing his disgust at the government's support of the Canadian seal slaughter.
A single company in Norway—which has received funding from the Norwegian government for years—buys a whopping 80 percent of Canada's seal pelts. Norway is also joining Canada in contesting the European Union's ban on seal product imports, and both countries want the hearings on the issue to be held behind closed doors.
I've seen a lot of vile sights in my days, but few were as dark and twisted as the beating of helpless baby seals for their fur ... If Norway has nothing to hide, there should be no problem with making this process public. —Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop, along with Joan Jett, Sarah McLachlan, Pamela Anderson, and many others, has called for an end to Canada's seal slaughter, and you can too.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
When you think of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), do you envision a group that pushes animal testing and endorses the Canadian seal slaughter and the shooting of elephants for sport? Chances are you don't, because the dirty secrets of the WWF are well-concealed behind a cuddly panda bear logo.
But German producer Wilfried Huismann is about to turn that "eco-façade" on its head. In his film Silence of the Pandas, he exposes what he dubs "the dark side" of the mammoth organization. WWF has become so large, says Huismann, by partnering with wealthy corporations that plaster its famous logo on their products as an endorsement in exchange for sizeable donations. Even while WWF purports to protect the environment, it promotes companies that are destroying it.
And we haven't even mentioned the animals WWF leaves in its wake. By pressuring government agencies to require even more animal tests, WWF's lobbying led to the establishment of what will be one of the largest animal-testing programs of all time. But what else would you expect from an organization founded by trophy hunters?
Like many people, I once was fooled by the warm and fuzzy commercials of pandas frolicking in the mist and made a donation to WWF. Now that I've learned what my money supported, the only green this meanie gets from me is when I throw its solicitations in my recycle bin.
Usually, when we put the words "Canada" and "seal" in the same sentence, it's bad news. But not today. Canadian officials are reporting that this year's seal slaughter saw one of the lowest numbers of seals killed in recorded history. The 2011 commercial slaughter claimed the lives of about 38,000 harp seals, which, while still awful, is less than 10 percent of the 400,000-seal maximum.
The slaughter officially ends today, although under "ministerial descretion" sealers can stay out longer. But why would they? Fewer and fewer sealers are participating in the slaughter. With the U.S. and European Union bans on seal-product imports, the price of a pelt has plummeted to $20 or $30, barely enough to cover the sealers' expenses for fuel and boat insurance.
To help continue the seal slaughter's downward spiral, tweet at Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (@pmharper) and ask him to stop supporting the bludgeoning and live skinning of baby seals, and ask your friends and family to speak up for seals too.
You didn't think Joan Jett would rest on her laurels after personally delivering an anti–seal slaughter letter to the Norwegian government earlier this week, did you? The rock icon has now set her sights on the San Diego County Fair, which is offering elephant rides from Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT)—a name synonymous with cruelty to animals—at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, where Jett is scheduled to appear later this month. Jett dashed off a letter to fair organizers on PETA's behalf urging them to send HTWT packing.
I've seen the video footage released by Animal Defenders International that shows the owners and trainers with HTWT as they hit elephants as hard as they can with bullhooks and use electric shocks on the animals' bellies," writes Jett in her letter. "You can hear a grown elephant who bellows in pain and a baby who cries out while being jabbed repeatedly in the mouth and hit over the head. Please don't allow the reputation of the fair to be tarnished by its support of cruel elephant rides.
You can help by joining Joan Jett in urging the San Diego Fair to abandon its plans to offer cruel and dangerous elephant rides.
Written by Alisa Mullins
As Canada's annual seal slaughter garners worldwide disgust, the government is frantically grasping at straws in its effort to prop up this cruel, dying industry. Despite the fact that Canada spent millions of taxpayer dollars this year to promote the massacre, very few sealers took part. Of the 400,000 seals allowed to be killed, 37,609 animals have been killed this year.
In response, the government announced that the slaughter would be extended indefinitely. But extending the timeframe for sealing won't change the fact that seal pelts are banned by the U.S. and the European Union and that many other countries won't import them. Pelt prices continue to plummet, and Canada continues to lose money every year.
If you are a Canadian resident, you can e-mail Prime Minister Stephen Harper and ask him to use your tax money to invest in alternatives for sealers instead of supporting an expensive, unnecessary industry that is a scar on the face of Canada.
Socially Awkward Penguin, make room on the ice floe for a new misfortune meme. Tragedy Seal, currently making his way around the Internet, is like every other Canadian seal who wants to snuggle with his mom and play with his friends. Then, with a resounding thud, sealers kill that idea and the baby seal himself.
Visit CanadasShame.com to see all the Tragedy Seal images. Then "like" them, tweet them, and pass them on so that others can learn about Canada's cruel seal slaughter and help PETA stop it.
The results are in from PETA's text-messaging poll asking people to choose the worst way that Canada abuses seals during the annual commercial baby seal slaughter, which is happening right now. Thousands voted, and here are their choices:
All the slaughter methods are barbaric, but what do you think is the worst thing that Canadian seal-killers do? Leave a comment to cast your vote, and "like" this on Facebook to ask your friends to vote too.
How many times have you read about the bludgeoning and live skinning of baby seals and thought, "Man, I would love to see those seal murderers get what's coming to them"? Well, here's the video you've been waiting for.
After you have a nice fist-pump at a seal hunter’s expense, visit CanadasShame.com for more ways to help seals.
Both Ke$ha and Iggy Pop love a good beat—but not in Canada, where baby seals are beaten, shot, and sometimes skinned alive for their fur. The musicians are just the latest celebs to star in PETA ads opposing Canada's annual seal slaughter. Explains Ke$ha, "Canada gets to be host to harp seals each year during their migration to the ice to give birth which is beautiful and peaceful. But because the babies' fur is so soft, there are people who club and brutally kill these young animals." She asks her fans to turn the heat up, up, up on the Canadian government by joining PETA's "Save the Seals" campaign.
Long-time PETA pal Iggy Pop wants to search and destroy the Canadian seal slaughter and save hundreds of thousands of baby seals every year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said, "The terror and suffering that these defenseless, friendly, intelligent, inquisitive creatures endure to create fur jackets—it's immoral."
Watch Iggy's exclusive behind-the-scenes video and get his advice for how you can help end Canada' shameful massacre.
We're no strangers to having our ads banned. But we thought that we had a safe bet when we created an ad against the Canadian seal slaughter that features a cartoon drawn by celebrated New Yorker contributor Harry Bliss. In the cartoon, a seal sits at a bar and, in a play on words, tells the bartender his order: "Anything but a [certain brand of whiskey]."
We posted the ad on our website, and postcard reproductions of it were sent to Toronto bars to be placed on tables. Of course, it was meant to reference the barbaric bludgeoning and skinning of baby seals, not whiskey. But Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., the parent company of Canadian Club, sent us a cease and desist letter, telling us to immediately yank the ad. We promptly did so (which means that you can no longer find the ad on our site) because we didn't mean to offend the brand—which to its credit, doesn't conduct animal testing.
Our legal counsel told Canadian Club: "It was not a happy hour when PETA received your letter. Although we will put the cartoon on ice, it … brings needed attention to the hideous cruelty of the Canadian slaughter of baby seals, a spectacle so vile that even to contemplate the carnage on the ice, it's hard not to want a stiff drink."
A whiskey, perhaps?
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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