Seals: Marked for Death

Canada is preparing to begin another season of reckless killing on the ice pack off its Atlantic coast. Around a million seal pups were killed for their fur in the last three years, and there is no indication that the pace is about to let up.

This expected government-sanctioned eradication of hundreds of thousands of seal pups jeopardizes a species already facing an uncertain future as their habitat melts out from underneath them. Global warming is melting the ice that harp seals depend on for breeding, nursing and resting.

Take Action! Tell Canada's new Prime Minister to end this practice before it's too late.

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Dear Prime Minister Harper,

As Canada's new Prime Minister, you have inherited an unpleasant bit of baggage - your predecessor's stubborn refusal to abandon the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world.  I urge you to see this as an opportunity to help establish Canada's reputation as a steward of the marine environment, and to bring this remnant of the past century to an end once and for all.

Over the past three years, the Canadian Government sanctioned the killing of about one million seal pups, the vast majority of which were less than three months old.  Each year, images of dead and dying seals appear in newspapers and on televisions around the world, bringing shame to your country. The massive scale of these killings is an ecological disaster.

For seals, global warming is not a vague future threat.  Already this year, thousands of newborn seals have drowned due to poor ice conditions, a problem that is certain to increase in severity for the foreseeable future.  While no single extreme weather event can be blamed on climate change, scientists tell us that climate change will bring more extreme weather events. Like polar bears and many other animals that rely on polar ecosystems, harp seals are dependent on sea ice for breeding, resting and nursing. As global warming creates more extreme weather events and melts the ice, seals have progressively less room to survive.

Deliberately eradicating hundreds of thousands of seal pups each year through hunting alone could be devastating to the long-term survival of the population.

I urge you to take immediate action to end the seal hunt and to increase Canada's efforts to fight global warming.

"Sincerely," and your name and contact information will be added to the end of the letter.

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Seals: Marked for Death

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