2005-06-08
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8, 2005
Contact: Kathy Landry 832.385.1085 [email protected]
Michol Rantschler 281.787.7436 [email protected]
Animal Activists Lead Funeral Procession for Slaughtered Baby Seals
Motorcade from Houston to Dallas to mark this year�s dead, lined up 270
miles along I-45
A funeral procession at least a dozen cars long, adorned with massive
banners, posters and graffiti will travel around Houston and to and around
Dallas Thursday, stopping at the Canadian Consulates in both cities to
tell Canada, �Stop the Massacre of Baby Seals!�
What: Funeral Procession for Baby Seals
When: Starting at 9:40 a.m. Thursday, June 9
Where: Begins at 419 Lovett Blvd, traveling around Houston, with a stop
at the Canadian Consulate at 11 a.m., and on to Dallas
Renowned Canadian wildlife preservationist Anthony Marr, who is
traveling the country to help end the seal massacre, will lead the
procession. Houston-based In Solidarity with Animals (ISWA) and
Dallas-based Animal Connection of Texas (ACT) have teamed up with Marr to
be sure Houston, Dallas and everywhere between is aware of the seal hunt,
the largest and most egregious commercial slaughter of marine mammals in
the world.
�Even though the vast majority of our citizens desire an end to the
bloody, despicable seal massacre, our Canadian government has refused to
stop it,� said Marr, . �We�re turning to the American public and merchants
to step in with their power as consumers. Americans can save millions of
defenseless seal pups from this cruel fate by refusing to support the
powerful fishing industry that has our government in its pocket.�
So far this year, the Canadian Government has allowed 317,672 harp
seals to be shot, stabbed, or clubbed to death; nearly one million have
been killed in the past three years. About 99.5 percent of the seals were
less than a month old. A panel of international veterinarians who studied
the commercial seal hunt concluded up to 42 percent of the seals they
examined were likely skinned alive while fully conscious.
The last time this many seals were killed, in the 1950s, the harp seal
population was driven to near-extinction.
Sealing is an off-season activity conducted by commercial fishermen
from Canada�s East Coast. They make, on average, one twentieth of their
incomes from sealing � the rest from commercial fisheries.
Canadian seafood exports to the United States, in particular, are worth
over 3 billion dollars annually to the Canadian economy, dwarfing the few
million dollars from the seal hunt.
Marr, ISWA and ACT have joined a global campaign to end the hunt that
involves groups in 27 countries, including the Humane Society of the
United States, to effect a collective and sustained boycott of Canadian
seafood until the hunt ends.
Whole Foods Market and several other major merchants have already
joined the boycott. Marr has personally met with local merchants and
restaurants on his tour; many have signed a declaration pledging not to
stock, sell or serve Canadian seafood until the Canadian seal hunt is
banned.
Marr�s campaign tour has two halves. The current western half includes,
in chronological sequence, MN, WI, IL, MO, AR, LA, TX, OK, NM, CO, UT, AZ,
NV, CA, OR and WA.
For more information, please visit www.InSolidaritywithAnimals.com,
www.hope-care.org or
www.protectseals.com.
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