World Images

Back to news

Dear World,

Just a few days ago, the ice floes of Eastern Canada were a breathtaking vision: an endless sea and sky filled with white as far as the eye can see. In one of nature's most beautiful spectacles, hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals call out to their mothers, alone on the ice for the first time.

But now the hunting ships have arrived. What was once a scene of peace and innocence is now a makeshift factory of terror and cruelty as the ice becomes covered in blood; with these same seals, some as young as three weeks old, clubbed or shot to death for their fur. Many will be skinned alive or die trapped under the ice.

I desperately need your help right now to stop this inhumane slaughter.

Your contribution puts IFAW seal rescue teams on the ice to expose this outrage

The majority of these baby seals will be killed in just a matter of days. Speed - not mercy - is the rule as sealers try to kill as many seals as possible in the short time available to them.

Year after year IFAW hunt observers document abuses such as live seals being hooked and dragged across the ice or shot and left to suffer before being clubbed again some time later. According to the Canadian government, more than 78,000 seals were 'struck and lost' in this way during the hunts that took place between 2003 and 2005.

This year the pressure to end the commercial seal hunt in Canada is greater than ever. International opposition to the hunt is growing. Thanks in large part to IFAW's efforts, legislation to ban seal products is advancing in a number of countries, such as the Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands.

That's why I'm asking you to make as generous a contribution as you can right now to save the baby seals.

With international criticism reaching its highest peak in years, it's critical that we document the cruelty of this year's hunt. IFAW will once again be on the front lines, exposing the ugly truth to the rest of the world. But I need your help to fund this urgent effort:

IFAW is actively working to shut down the markets for seal products in Europe as well as challenging the government's flawed seal management plan through scientific research and reporting.

I know I can count on you to give what you can so the cries of the seals can be heard over the misleading distortion of the facts by a government that supports this needless cruelty. Like me, I know you won't rest until this atrocity ends forever.

Thanks for all you do,

Fred O'Regan

President and CEO - IFAW

Most of the more than 300,000 victims of Canada's commercial seal hunt will be "beater" harp seal pups, so named for their youthful thrashing in the water.