Group Hopes to Persuade Vancouver Residents, Canadian Government to End Disgraceful Seal Slaughter 

For Immediate Release:
August 18, 2009

Contact:
Ashley Byrne 757-622-7382

Vancouver, British Columbia -- Following the recent slaughter of tens of thousands of baby seals on Canada's ice floes, PETA is escalating its efforts to stop the annual massacre with plans to place a new ad under the ice at skating rinks across Canada, including in Vancouver. The ad parodies the Vancouver 2010 logo by depicting a sealer bludgeoning a baby seal lying in a pool of blood above a blood-dripping version of the Olympic rings. It includes the tagline "Stop the Seal Slaughter." PETA hopes to run the rink ad as part of an international campaign focusing on the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

PETA is urging Canadians to pressure the government to stop the annual seal slaughter, during which baby seals have their heads bashed in or are shot, often in front of their wailing mothers. This year, three-fourths of the nearly 300,000 harp seals expected to be killed were spared, in part because the price of seal fur has plummeted as the international outrage against the seal slaughter rises. The European Union and the U.S. have banned seal fur, and world leaders--including bear-hunting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin--have spoken out against the massacre.

"Vancouver residents need to understand that tourists aren't going to glide right over the cruelty of the seal massacre when they decide whether to attend the Games," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "It's time for Canadian leaders to melt the ice in their veins and put a stop to the largest annual massacre of marine mammals on the planet."

For more information, please visit PETA.org or PETA’s blog.