Take the Challenge with Cat Cora to Stop Canada's Cruel Seal Hunt

Not long ago, I was at the Sundance Film festival celebrating the campaign to protect seals from Canada's commercial seal slaughter. We watched Nigel Barker's beautiful and heartbreaking documentary and dined on a special meal I created. I was thrilled to become one of the many celebrities who've pledged to boycott Canadian seafood until Canada ends the commercial hunt.But now I'm saddened by the knowledge that before the end of the month, fishermen will again invade the harp seal nursery and club or shoot to death every harp seal pup they can find. I can't stand by and watch this happen, year after year.
I was honored to receive an award for the work I've done for seals.
That's why I'm issuing a challenge to you to sign the pledge to boycott Canadian seafood. After you've signed, please ask your friends, family, and coworkers to sign it as well. The person who gathers the most signatures will win a trip to New York City to meet with me -- plus a seal pup photograph taken by Nigel Barker. Ten runners-up will receive prizes, too. Read all of the details and contest rules here.The Canadian seafood boycott is the best tactic we have to pressure Canada's East Coast fisherman to end the hunt.Please take my challenge today so that together we can stop this senseless cruelty!

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/protectseals_cat_cora

Petition : you can make all the difference for baby seals‏

Tell Clearwater that you will boycott Canadian seafood until the commercial seal hunt is overClearwater is one of the largest exporters of seafood from the sealing provinces. The company buys huge quantities of Canadian seafood every year, and it has the power to help convince the Canadian government to end the barbaric seal hunt forever. The commercial fishing industry won't stop the killing just because it's the humane thing to do, so we have to give it a choice: End the hunt, or sacrifice profits.

Speak up for seals :

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/hsi_seals_09_clearwater/i875gdi4478jj3bj

Video Exposes Military's Stabbing of Dogs‏

PETA has received horrific torture videos that show live dogs who scream in pain while they are stabbed and killed during combat-training exercises conducted by soldiers in the Bolivian military. The soldiers state that their instructors received training from the U.S. military in how to conduct these exercises, and the training partnership is corroborated by a written agreement signed by the two countries.In the U.S., the Department of Defense currently stabs, shoots, poisons, burns, and cuts the limbs off thousands of living animals each year in medical-training exercises. The U.S. exercises differ from those used by the Bolivian military, but the victims are the same—vulnerable animals.Please click here to take action by sending an urgent note asking Bolivia to ban these cruel, outdated, and bloody training exercises on animals.

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/bolivia_military

DEATH ON A FACTORY FARM

Death on a Factory Farm From the makers of HBO's 2006 documentary Dealing Dogs, this film takes a harrowing look at animal cruelty in an Ohio factory hog farm, as chronicled through undercover footage taken by "Pete," the same animal-rights investigator who appeared in the first film. Premieres Monday, March 16 at 10pm. Read more.

Urge the European Union to Ban All Seal Products

Urge the European Union to Ban All Seal Products
Every spring, hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals in eastern Canada are bludgeoned, shot, and skinned for their fur. Some veterinarians estimate that up to 42 percent of the seals killed are skinned alive. Watch PETA's shocking video of this slaughter. Canada's annual seal hunt is the largest marine-mammal slaughter on the planet, and most of the seals' fur goes through European ports before ending up in Europe, Russia, and China.
The European Commission has proposed a ban on products made from seals “killed in inhumane ways.” This is a significant step forward, but loopholes could allow the slaughter to continue. A total ban on seal products could mean that hundreds of thousands of baby seals would be spared from the horrifying fate of being bludgeoned and dragged to their bloody deaths.
Please join us in urging Commissioner Dimas to follow in the footsteps of the U.S. and draft legislation for a total EU ban on seal products.

Take Action on This Issue
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/eu_ban_seal?rk=ApNoT8KqYFkOW

Help Pass Historic Bill to End Seal Hunt‏- Help us collect 200,000 letters before April!

A miracle on ice, the birthing grounds of hundreds of thousands of baby seals will turn red with the cruel slaughter of Canada's commercial seal hunt in just a few short weeks. Seals as young as three weeks old will be clubbed and beaten. Others will be shot in open water ... many will suffocate under the ice or even be skinned alive. But for the first time in our history, a Canadian politician is proposing a law to end this suffering of baby seals. Tell Canada you support the Harb Seal Bill to end Canada's commercial seal hunt.Each year, IFAW travels to the ice to document the cruelty inherent in this hunt. I've seen baby seals dragged onto boats with metal hooks while alive. Seals left alone to die on the ice after they are bludgeoned on the head. Suffering you and I could not prevent because the law prevents us from intervening.Until now. The Harb Seal Bill would end this hunt.Senator Harb has shown incredible leadership and courage by speaking out on behalf of the majority of Canadians on this issue. But he cannot win this fight on his own.You and I must act quickly to ensure this bill is passed into law. Senator Harb wants to fill his office from floor to ceiling with messages of support for the Harb Seal Bill. Our goal is to collect over 200,000 emails, action cards and letters in the next few weeks (one message for every seal that will be killed in this year's slaughter) - so I'm counting on you to act right now.Let's flood the Senator's and Canadian Embassy inboxes with messages. This is our chance to ensure no more baby seals are skinned alive or shot and left to suffer. Please also consider a donation at this time to help us pass this historic legislation.The world is watching.Sincerely,
Fred O'ReganIFAW President

SUPPORT THE "HARB SEAL BILLHelp us collect 200,000 letters before April!

EU Parliament committee approves ban on the import of seal products

From The Associated Press, March 2, 2009
EU Parliament committee approves ban on the import of seal products BRUSSELS (AP) - A European Parliament committee has approved a proposal that would prevent EU countries from importing seal products.The proposed ban, approved Monday by a 27-7 vote, would not affect imports from Canada's and Greenland's Inuit communities.The vote appeared to reflect Europe's widespread public opposition to seal hunting, which many people regard as cruel.To become law, the ban on products such as pelts, blubber, oil and meat would still need the approval of the entire EU assembly and EU governments.Nordic EU countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Finland have opposed such a ban, and EU legal experts say it could violate world trade rules.Canada and Greenland have warned the EU that they could challenge such a ban before the World Trade Organization.

EU panel OKs partial ban on seal products
Last Updated: Monday, March 2, 2009
The Canadian Press
A European Parliament committee has backed a proposal for a partial ban on the import of seal products from Canada and other sealing countries.The legislators rejected an initial bill that recommended tough labelling rules instead of a ban.The amended bill, approved by a vote of 27 to 7, calls for a ban but includes an exemption for Canada's and Greenland's Inuit communities.The European Parliament is scheduled to vote on the proposed ban April 2. The European Council will then make a decision on the matter, likely in June.Canadian politicians, including Sullivan and federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, have met with their European counterparts in recent weeks in an effort to convince them that the commercial harp seal hunt is humane.The import ban could deliver a devastating blow to Atlantic Canadian fishermen who rely on the annual hunt as a source of income, shutting down critical shipment points, including in Holland and in Germany.Canada's largest markets for seal products, such as Russia, China and Norway, are outside the EU. But sealing industry experts fear a ban would curb the demand for seal fur from the fashion industry and disrupt shipping routes.In the past three years, the total allowable catch in Canada has hovered between 270,000 and 335,000 seals annually.Shea is expected to announce this year's seal hunt quota by the middle of this month.Nordic EU countries, including Denmark, Sweden and Finland, have all voiced opposition to a ban on seal hunting