NEWFOUNDLAND NATIVE RETURNS BIRTH CERTIFICATE IN PROTEST OF SEAL SLAUGHTER
Vancouver Resident Says Barbaric Seal Hunt Makes Her 'Ashamed to Be a Canadian'
Vancouver, British Columbia — Newfoundland native Nadine Saunders is
so disgusted by the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of harp
seals in her native province that she wishes that she hadn't been born
there. That's why she will be returning her birth certificate to the
Newfoundland government today in protest of the seal hunt that takes
place every spring on Canada's East Coast.
"Thousands of helpless baby seals are bludgeoned to death in the
province where I grew up. It makes me ashamed to be a Newfoundlander,"
says Nadine.
Last year, the Canadian government permitted the killing of more than
320,000 harp seals, and the quota has been raised to 325,000 this
year. In the past three years alone, nearly 1 million seals have been
slaughtered—mostly pups who are under 3 months old. An estimated 42
percent are skinned alive. The seals are killed strictly for their
fur, which is prized by the fur trade. Because there is no demand for
their meat, their skinned corpses are simply left to rot on the ice
floes.
The hunt has spurred protests around the world and has attracted
high-profile opposition from Sir Paul and Lady Heather Mills
McCartney, Brigitte Bardot, Pamela Anderson, Persia White, and Anna
Nicole Smith.
"The world is watching, and it is appalled by our barbarism," says
Nadine. "If our government stops this cruel slaughter, I will ask for
my birth certificate back, but until then, I cannot hold my head up as
a Canadian."
Nadine, who is president of the Vancouver-based animal rights group
Canadians for Animals, has created a video about the hunt that has
already been viewed by thousands of people. For more information, please
visit PETA.org.
