The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) released a harsh reality check for the government and public in the form of a news release today, only days before the annual seal hunt begins in Newfoundland.
According to IFAW, the seal hunt – cited as an important economic driver by the Tory government – costs taxpayers approximately $7 million per year, adding that 35 countries have banned the import of non-Aboriginal seal products, and that the seasonal, part-time practice creates a massive amount of waste.
“Canada’s commercial seal hunt is a horrific waste that has no place in modern society,” says IFAW’s Sheryl Fink in the news release. “When seals from the commercial seal hunt are killed, they are not eaten and the whole animal is not used. Over 90 per cent of seals killed are for fur – they are skinned and their bodies are thrown back in to the ocean or left to rot on the ice.”
Tens of millions of tax payer’s dollars have been spent supporting and promoting the dwindling seal industry, but to little success.
“The commercial seal hunt has been declining since 2006, and data from the 2014 hunt indicate that it is at one of the lowest points in history,” Fink says. “People do not want seal products, and there are 35 countries around the world that now ban them. The commercial seal hunt is unnecessary, and it’s time to transition sealers out of it.”
We support IFAW in their work on the seal hunt and ask that you help, too, by contacting your MP today and demanding that they stop spending your tax dollars on an industry that the world doesn’t want.
Work like our growing Make Fur History campaign is only possible with the support of monthly donors. Please consider become a monthly donor – for as little as $5 a month – and help us create a Canada that is truly fur-free.
