Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Newfoundland Continues Its War On Seals

(Note: also posted on the main Friends of Animals blog.)

Once again, the seal slaughter has begun on the East Coast of Canada, this year further spurred with a $3.6 million dollar investment from the Newfoundland government, promising more money to those who opt to risk their lives on the diminishing ice floes. This year, seal skins are estimated to be valued around $27, from an all-time low of $15 from 2010. Some in NL are leery, and even they’re admitting the numbers don’t add up and that this is just a boondoggle.

Thanks to this cash infusion, there’s a very good chance we’ll see more seals killed than in the last couple years, so we cannot just sit back and hope this thing fades into oblivion – we can expect tens of thousands of baby seals (they’re killed at about 3 weeks of age) to be killed this year.

What can we do in Victoria? Letters, of course, can be sent to the Prime Minister, the Minster of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and of course Newfoundland officials, but in our own city we can make a little difference: boycott Seed of Life, the downtown health food store, and tell them why.

This is our third year of encouraging cities in Canada to take responsibility for themselves – we cannot rely entirely on the rest of the world boycotting seal products, we must show dissent from within as well! By ensuring your city is ‘Seal Friendly’, and eliminating seal products (primarily fur products and seal oil capsules), the rest of Canada can also show Newfoundland that even at home, we’re not putting up with this.

If you’re an activist in another city, all you have to do is find out where seal products are sold, and then start a boycott – spread the word to your friends and families and co-workers, and get them to join in and tell others. If we make this an issue, then shops will have no choice but to stop selling seal products. Can we make areas of a province, or even entire provinces Seal Friendly? Let’s find out!

In Victoria, the only shop we’ve found to be selling seal products is Seed of Life – we’re maintaining our boycott of them (and if you’re shopping downtown, Ingredients would be a more appropriate health food store destination.) Please take some time to write a letter asking Seed of Life to cease their sale of seal products, and mail it, or drop it off in person for more of an impact:

Seed of Life Natural Foods
1316 Government St
Victoria, BC V8W 1Y8

Thank you for speaking up for seals, and helping to bring this bloody slaughter to an end.

Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
Web Site: http://FriendsofAnimals.org
Victoria: http://TheVictoriaVegan.com
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Twitter: http://Twitter.com/FoA_Victoria
FoA Vegan Starter Guide PDF: http://bit.ly/foa-vsg