It was Tax Day in Canada, so PETA members inflated a 15-foot-high toilet—emblazoned with the words “$eal $laughter Flu$hes Million$ in Taxe$”—on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to show Canadians that the country’s annual commercial seal massacre not only costs animals their lives but also costs taxpayers a fortune: about $7 million a year.
© James ParkNow that all the major markets for seal fur have dried up—and for good reason—Canada’s seal slaughter costs millions more to support than it earns. The government is spending an estimated $10 million to challenge the European Union ban on seal products, plus millions more each year for pro-sealing campaigns. Fisheries Minister Gail Shea recently admitted that China had said no to seal meat—despite a marketing blitz that cost Canadian taxpayers millions.
PETA is calling on the government to devise a practical exit strategy: a buyout of the sealing industry. If you don’t like to see money—and lives—flushed down the drain, contact the Canadian government and urge it to end the shameful seal slaughter.
