The slaughter of Canada's seals has begun in earnest. Right now, seals are being shot or having their skulls crushed on the ice floes, and we need your help to end this bloody and pointless massacre so that it doesn't occur again next year.
The Canadian government allowed sealers to kill more than 200,000 baby harp seals last year in its annual war on seals, and this year, that number has increased to 338,200 seals. There is no more vital a time to put intense pressure on the Canadian government to make this the last year in which hundreds of thousands of baby seals, most only weeks or months old, will be shot or have their skulls crushed and their skin torn off their bodies for a product that no one needs or wants. Please help us save seals and other wonderful animals from being killed for their skins by making a special gift to PETA today. The Canadian government is pulling out all the stops this year to make the horrific massacre of young seals appear somehow less cruel by introducing a series of new "regulations," such as prohibiting the use of the hakapik—a wooden club with a metal hook on the end—to kill seals over the age of 1 year. But it doesn't add up.
The amendment does not apply to nearly 98 percent of the seals killed during the slaughter, because they are less than 1 year old. That means that hundreds of thousands of baby seals will still suffer a violent and painful death on the ice.
No trumped up reforms of this atrocious slaughter are acceptable. No trumped up reforms will make it humane.
Most of the young seals who will be skinned during this slaughter are so small and helpless that they simply have to watch their attackers approach and raise their weapons to crack their skulls.
It's up to compassionate people like you to demand that this bloody slaughter never occur again.
With your support, the slaughter of seals need not go on forever. The U.S. outlawed the sale of seal fur more than 25 years ago, and the European Union is actively considering a ban on all seal products as I write.
PETA's vigorous anti-fur campaign is persuading compassionate consumers, designers, and retailers to turn away from fur. We have convinced leading designers and retailers, including Donna Karan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Liz Claiborne, J.Crew, and many others, to stop selling all fur.
Please stand with us. Make a tax-deductible gift today to help us save animals from a painful and terrifying death at the hands of the international skins trade.
And don't stop there. We need you to be part of the campaign: Please contact the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to express your outrage and urge the committee to use its clout to help stop the seal slaughter. If you've already contacted the committee, please forward this important alert to your friends and family. We need every voice that we can get to speak out against this massacre.
I know that—together—we can hasten the day when no animal, including those who are destined to die a violent death on the Canadian ice floes, will be slaughtered for their fur.
Thank you, for taking action today to give defenseless animals a voice, a chance, and a life.
watch more about it on youtube.com
Kind regards,
Ingrid E. Newkirk President
P.S. Right now, hundreds of thousands of young harp seals are facing imminent slaughter. They don't know that the hunters are coming, hakapiks in hand, to end their lives, but you and I do. I hope that this knowledge compels you to act now in their behalf. Please donate to PETA today and support our work to end the terrible cruelty endured by animals slaughtered for their skins.
                      While millions of viewers watch this year's Belmont Stakes, former champions like Charismatic and War Emblem are half a world away in Japan. Thousands of other less famous U.S.-bred thoroughbreds have also been exported overseas for breeding and racing. When they are no longer useful, most of these horses will be slaughtered.
PETA undercover investigators have recorded exclusive footage in a Japanese horse slaughterhouse, in which 4,500 horses are killed and cut up each year—many of them racehorses—to be made into food for dogs and humans. Slaughterhouses such as the Kumamoto Shokuniku Center, which was exposed by our investigators, are often the last stop in a system that routinely produces tens of thousands of "surplus" thoroughbreds each year because there is no plan for what to do with them after their racing or breeding days are over.
Ten years ago Charismatic won the 125th Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. He nearly went on to win horse racing's Triple Crown before he tragically broke his leg near the finish line at the Belmont Stakes. Unlike Barbaro, Eight Belles, and the more than 1,000 U.S. racehorses who suffer fatal breakdowns on the track every year, Charismatic survived and was sold soon after like a commodity and exported to Japan for breeding purposes.
While millions of viewers watch this year's Belmont Stakes, Charismatic—half a world away and with his value as a stallion plummeting—could be facing the same fate as fellow Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand, who was slaughtered for dog food at the end of an unsuccessful stud career in Japan.
In 2008, more than 100,000 American-bred horses were exported to Canada, Mexico, and Japan and slaughtered for meat—many of these were thoroughbreds.
For Charismatic, War Emblem, and the tens of thousands of less famous racehorses who face slaughter, please take the three actions to the right of this letter. While racing fans are glued to media coverage surrounding the Belmont Stakes, there is no better time to make a difference in the lives of thousands of horses. Thank you.
Very truly yours,
Ingrid E. Newkirk President
To make a difference, and donate please contact PETA.org.
