Wednesday, April 6, 2011

For a Seal Friendly Victoria, Boycott ‘Seed of Life’ Health Food Store ‘Til They Go Seal-Free

UPDATE: The boycott has been ended! As of December, 2013, Seed of Life has stopped selling seal oil capsules! Please tell Peter, the new owner, you appreciate his decision to end the support of this cruel business!

Previous info:

A year ago we began our campaign to eliminate all seal products from retail outlets in Victoria, BC. Our primary focus is on seal oil capsules, which is similar to salmon oil and is touted for Omega 3 and DHA, but these nutrients can be found in plant-based oils made with flax, hemp and algae.

Seed of Life does not have the Friends of Animals Seal of Approval. The Vitamin Shop quickly removed it from their shelves after our supporters stopped in, dropping off letters of protest and speaking with the managers.

But Seed of Life has been much more resistant to those who care about seals and the use of environmentally and ecologically respectful products.

Seal oil is one of very few products that can be sold from the killing of seals on the East Coast. Some Newfoundlanders continue to justify seal killing, despite international protest and boycott, and a huge decline in the interest and investment in seal fur.

We at Friends of Animals encourage all Canadian cities to join in this protest, and become Seal Friendly, showing Ottawa and the rest of the world that very few Canadians support the seal slaughter. Start locally, in Victoria, BC!

Please boycott Seed of Life, and shop elsewhere. Be sure to go in and speak with a manager, or drop off a letter, explaining why you’re boycotting their shop, so that they can appreciate the number of people who are opposed to the disgraceful killing of seals on the East Coast, and that we want Victoria to be a Seal-Friendly city.

Write to:
Seed of Life Natural Foods
1316 Government St
Victoria, BC V8W 1Y8
We request a focus on seal products at this time, but of course encourage the elimination of all animal product sales as well.

If you’re in a different city, please get the ball rolling - find out who’s selling seal oil capsules or seal fur, and go in and speak with the managers, and encourage the same from your friends, families and colleagues. If they continue to sell these things, then begin a boycott.

The seals need your voices; let’s continue to deprive seal killers of a market, here and abroad.

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2496490922
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg

4 comments:

  1. Maybe I don't fully understand, so please let me know if I'm just being dense, but why is seal oil any more reprehensible than salmon oil?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Anonymous, why not identify yourself?

    We agree salmon oil is reprehensible as well, and of course Friends of Animals would like to see an end to this product too.

    We were among the first groups to be active and involved in opposing the seal slaughter since it was first revealed in the late 60’s, and seeing an end to it has been a large focus and a particular passion of FoA presidents, who have witnessed the horror of the killing first hand. Our current local campaign is focused on ending the seal slaughter, and denying the industry product sales is one way to achieve this. The EU ban has been elemental in sparing the lives of hundreds of thousands of seals over the last couple years. These animals continue to swim free because of a decimated market for their bodies (particularly their fur).

    While we’d love to see an end to salmon oil and all animal products in Seed of Life, a boycott of the shop because it carries animal products would be absurd, given that there are no other grocery stores in Victoria that are free of animal products (yet!) In this case, it is singularly unique. You might have overlooked that we mention this in our letter however, and encourage writers to bring this up, although again, the primary focus should be on seal oil capsules at this time.

    This is one area of focus in FoA’s advocating of veganism, and hopefully the owners of Seed of Life will reconsider their attitudes towards seals with your encouragement, and perhaps think about other animals as well. The conversation needs to begin somewhere, and asking them to make the shop vegan will likely fall on deaf ears, although it’s our ideal. At least this way we can begin to converse.

    Perhaps if we are successful in this area, the next step could be to speak up for salmon and other fishes, and continue to advocate for plant-based oils as a source for Omega 3’s and DHA. Can we count on your support there?

    Thanks for your question, please post any other thoughts or ideas!

    - Dave

    ReplyDelete
  3. So true, Dave, and we'd all like to see seals respected rather than battered, but other than
    Canada thowing seals to furriers,seals are
    blamed for eating fish. Advancing ideas that connect human consumption with environmental awareness is both pragmatic, smart and thoughtful. That's a vision that defines animal rights.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Do you think that a boycott of one of the best sources of vegetarian food products in town is a good idea? It could drive them out of business and hurt your cause even more. You should focus your efforts on changing something big rather than hurting a tiny health food store that's probably struggling financially already. Boycotting a local, small, healthy, sustainable business is a rotten thing to do, despite the awful product they are selling. Shame on you. There are far better ways to encourage them to stop selling seal products.

    ReplyDelete

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