Start of Seal Slaughter Sparks Naked Protest Outside Canadian Embassy

Flag-Painted PETA Supporters to Highlight Plummeting Market for Seal Products

For Immediate Release:
April 9, 2015

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

With their nearly nude bodies painted to resemble the flags of the United States, Russia, Germany, Mexico, France, and the United Kingdom—all of which have banned seal products—six PETA supporters, including both men and women, will protest outside the Canadian Embassy on Friday, just ahead of the first day of Canada’s annual massacre of tens of thousands of baby harp seals which is scheduled to begin on Sunday. As a result of worldwide opposition to the seal slaughter, the quickly fading industry now costs millions more to support than it brings in. A study at the University of Guelph found that ending the commercial slaughter would save taxpayers about $7 million a year.

Where:           Outside the Canadian Embassy, 501 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.

When:             Friday, April 10, 12 p.m.

“Canada’s commercial seal slaughter is as wasteful as it is cruel to the seals who are shot or clubbed for their fur,” says PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews. “PETA is calling on the Canadian government to do the right thing for taxpayers and animals by ending this subsidized slaughter for good.”

Russia—which had been importing 95 percent of Canada’s seal pelts—struck a huge blow against the industry when it banned seal fur. Switzerland recently took steps to follow suit, and last year, Canada’s minister of fisheries and oceans admitted that a long-planned trade agreement to sell seal meat in China has been largely thwarted by animal rights groups. President Barack Obama has even spoken out against the slaughter, in which tens of thousands of baby seals have their heads bashed in or are shot. Sealers hook animals in their eyes, cheeks, or mouths and drag them across the ice, sometimes while they’re still conscious.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.