🚀 go-pugleaf

CANADA'S SHAME

- Canada has declared war on the seals...again

- Hundreds of thousands are being brutally clubbed or shot each year

- Many are skinned whilst still conscious

- The Canadian government is ignoring world condemnation of the
killing and even subsidises the hunt

- Join the boycott and save the seals


Many people remember the high profile campaigns against the clubbing
of baby seals back in the 70's and 80's but few people realise that
the number of young seals being killed is now more than ever before.
The 2002 seal hunt saw over 300,000 young harp seals killed.

The Canadian government has now declared war on the seals and over the
next 3 years 1 million seals are to die. The quotas set mean that this
is to be the largest hunt in history. 

It is a blatant attempt to use the seals as scapegoats and, wrongly,
to try to reduce the harp seal population to protect fish stocks. The
real cause of the of the dwindling fish populations is human over
fishing, not the seals. In fact, reducing the numbers of harp seals
could actually hinder the recovery of the cod in the N.W Atlantic
since they prey upon species which, in turn, prey upon cod. The
situation is not as simple as the Canadian authorities would like to
make out and the seals are being used for political expediency by
short-sighted officials.

The Canadian Government has increased the quota at 350,000 for the
next two years and 275,000 for the third. The increase in quota cannot
be supported by sound science and, importantly, does not take into
account the climatic changes that are now beginning to have an affect
on the seal populations. 

Over the last few years due to an increase in seasonal temperatures
the ice in the Gulf of St Lawrence and off Newfoundland (the main
hunting areas) has melted early. The seals depend on thick pack ice as
new born pups need to spend several weeks on the ice after they are
born. If it melts they will drown as they are not able to swim. Last
year the problem was so bad that most pups were lost. The long range
forecast suggests the same will happen this year which means a second
generation born there will be lost. 

The situation is now very serious and we cannot sit back and simply
watch the Canadian government's appalling crimes against nature.

http://www.boycott-canada.com/


Cheerio

-- 
To avoid grizzlies, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game advises hikers
to wear noisy little bells on clothes and carry pepper spray. Also watch
for signs of activity: Black bear scat is smaller and contains berries;
grizzly scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper.