Sarah McLachlan: Buy Out the Seal Slaughter

It’s time for the Canadian government to face it: The seal slaughter is dead in the water. As Grammy Award–winning Canadian icon Sarah McLachlan wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the logical next step is for Canada to buy out the sealers rather than continuing to waste millions of dollars fighting seal-product bans.

A Political Chess Game

It seems that the only reason the Canadian government is still supporting the slaughter is that both parties desperately want control of the parliamentary swing seats in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the slaughter takes place. Sarah encouraged the prime minister to lead the way in ending the massacre:

The sealers—like tobacco farmers and asbestos miners—need leaders to devise a practical exit strategy for them, not waste millions more in hopeless World Trade Organization challenges or paying to stockpile pelts when buyers already have seal pelts going back several years. Won’t you lead the way?

Global Criticism

Sarah, who penned the letter on behalf of PETA, has publicly criticized the seal slaughter for years, as have world leaders such as President Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, globally known celebrities such as Sir Paul McCartney and Martin Sheen, and even Canadian politicians such as Sen. Mac Harb. 

During PETA’s intense campaign against the seal slaughter, the U.S., the E.U., and now Russia, which had been importing 95 percent of Canada’s seal fur, have all banned seal products. The time has come for Canada to accept the inevitable and end the slaughter.

What You Can Do

Tweet Prime Minister Stephen Harper and ask him to give sealers an exit strategy that they—and seals—can live with.