From: Anthony Marr
To: Animals Asia
Date: Sat Apr 15, 2006 9:43 am
Re: The globe and Mail article titled "It's 'not pretty', but seal
business thrives"
Subject: Demand-side of global anti-seal-massacre campaign
As you may know, the Canadian Seal Massacre is top campaign in North
America bar none at this time of the year, and I have been right in the
mix of it. I'm writing to seek you advice and perhaps also your help in
terminating this barbaric "tradition". You will find the following article
very informative and quite balanced on the state of the movement. A
certain emphasis is placed on the Paul McCartney visit. Of special note is
the line "Outside Atlantic Canada, Canadians are divided about the seal
hunt. While local animal-rights activists are against the hunt, the
incursion of wealthy international stars making pronouncements about
Canadian policy has turned off many Canadians." My feeling is that it is
actually not good inside Canadia in actually raising support for the
massacre, but good outside of Canada in bringing the atrocity to global
attention. If this observation is correct, it should be taken very
seriously when planning our future strategy. The more important point in
this article, however, is this: "Today, a seal pelt fetches about $70,
compared with $15 in the mid-1990s. The Barry Group processes 120,000 to
150,000 pelts a year. Once treated and dyed, about 90 per cent of the
pelts go to brokers in Russia and China. Russia is the No. 1 customer,
with China coming on with insatiable demand." I see China as being an even
greater threat than Russia, because its market will likely surpass that of
Russia within years. As you know, when it comes to trade in animal parts,
which seal pelts are, there are always the supply-side (in this case
Canada), and the demand side (China and Russia), and both need to be
plugged before the campaign can be fully effective. I have two questions:
1. Given your experience working in China, how do you think best to have
China ban the importation of seal products from Canada? 2. Obviously,
Animals Asia is ideally positioned to tackle this problem, partly because
of the organizational infrastructure you have already built, would you be
willing to participate in this global campaign?
I will of course do whatever I can to work with you from over here.
Looking forward to seeing your reply, one way or the other.
For the animals,
Anthony Marr, founder
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
Return to Terminate the Canadian Seal Massacre
Since 