PETA Crashes Canada Day London Event With Bloody Seal Slaughter Protest And Video
For Immediate Release:
30 June 2010
Contact:
Martin Mallon +44 207 357 9229, ext 224; [email protected]
London – This Thursday, a PETA member wearing little more than bright red body paint to represent the bloody injuries suffered by baby seals during Canada’s annual massacre will lie on a “bleeding” Canadian flag outside the Canadian High Commission. Other protesters will use a body-screen TV to reveal a new PETA TV spot condemning Canada’s controversial slaughter. The video – which features the national anthem “O Canada” playing over footage of seals as they are clubbed to death – is in stark contrast to the cuddly seal who is featured in an ad run by the Canadian Tourism Commission. PETA’s ad was created just in time for Canada Day London, an annual celebration of Canadian pride in the UK:
Date: Thursday, 1 July
Time: 12:30 pm
Place: Canada House, 5 Trafalgar Square, London
“The seal slaughter is a bloody stain on Canada’s international reputation, and there is no excuse for allowing it to continue”, says PETA’s Mimi Bekhechi. “The world is watching and waiting for Canada to end the biggest massacre of marine mammals in the world.”
During the annual seal slaughter, tens of thousands of baby seals have their heads bashed in or are shot. Sealers hook baby seals in the eyes, cheeks or mouth to avoid damaging the animals’ fur. They then drag them across the ice, often while the animals are still conscious.
The commercial seal slaughter is an off-season profit venture for the fishing industry, and it accounts for less than 1 per cent of Newfoundland’s economy. It is not a subsistence activity for native peoples. Inuit sealing accounts for only about 3 per cent of the slaughter. The European Union and the US have banned seal products, and world leaders – including US President Barack Obama, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin – have spoken out against the carnage.
For more information, please visit CanadasShame.com.