Members of the 'Clergy' Remind Parliament: Thou Shalt Not Kill

For Immediate Release:
September 16, 2009

Contact:
Danielle Katz 757-622-7382

Ottawa -- Members of Parliament received a message from on high when a group of three PETA members dressed as nuns interrupted a session during Parliament's first week back from vacation. From the gallery, the "women of the cloth" waved signs that read, "The Seal Slaughter Is a Bad Habit," and chanted, "Ban the seal slaughter!" before they were hauled off by security and taken to waiting police cars.

The protest came just hours after three PETA members--targeting Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Washington, D.C.--dressed as bloody seals and stopped traffic in front of the Canadian Embassy, where they were arrested.
 
"Heaven knows it's long past time for this senseless slaughter to stop," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "There's a special place in hell for anyone who would bludgeon and skin alive a helpless pup."

PETA wants Parliament to ban the annual seal slaughter, the largest massacre of marine mammals on Earth. During the slaughter, thousands of baby seals have their heads bashed in or are shot. Sealers hook baby seals in the eyes, cheeks, or mouth to avoid damaging their fur. They then drag them across the ice, often while the animals are still conscious. Many are too young to swim away from their attackers and are killed as their wailing mothers watch.

This year, three-quarters of the nearly 300,000 harp seals who were expected to be killed were spared, in part because the price of seal fur has plummeted as international outrage against the seal slaughter has risen. The European Union and the U.S. have banned seal products, and world leaders--including U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin--have spoken out against the carnage.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.