The World is Watching

International opposition to the Canadian seal hunt continues to expand. Below are some of the groups working to end the slaughter:

• Anima Naturalis International
• Animal Protection Institute
• Bellerive Foundation
• Born Free Foundation
• Environmental Voters & Animal Alliance of Canada
• Friends of Animals
• Fund for Animals
• Global Action Network
• Greenpeace
• HARPSEALS.ORG
• Asian, Australian and United Kingdom offices of Humane Society International
• Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
• International Wildlife Coalition (IWC)
• Ocean Futures Society
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
• Respect for Animals
• Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)
• World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)

United States
The United States not only bans the import of seal products, but plans to take action in an attempt to influence the Canadian government's decision. In the U.S. Senate, Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan is sponsoring a new resolution that will ask Canada to put an immediate stop to the hunt, which will cruelly take the lives of over 319,000 seals just this year. The resolution is co-sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and was also sponsored last year by Presidential Candidate, Sen. John Kerry (D- MASS). Most foreign countries have made similar statements, and the only remaining market for the goods is in Scandinavian countries.

United Kingdom
After a British newspaper ran a story on the seal hunt, Members of Parliament, shocked by accounts of seals being skinned alive on the ice floes off Canada's East Coast, took a stand against the hunt with an Early Day Motion (EDM) – a formal demonstration of solidarity on a particular issue that British MPs can sign on to.
 
160 MPs signed on in support of the seal hunt EDM, which resulted in a formal debate in the House of Commons on the issue. MPs issued strong statements condemning the hunt as cruel and unsustainable. British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brian concluded the debate by stating that the United Kingdom would use its diplomatic weight to pressure the Canadian government to end the seal hunt.

Since the early 70s, celebrities from around the world have been speaking out against the cruelty of the seal hunt.

This year Goran Visnjic of the television show ER was interviewed by In Style magazine for its February 2005 issue and he had this to say about the seal hunt:

"The way seals are killed is so inhumane. They're clubbed then pulled across the ice with big hooks. I mean, I have a pretty strong stomach from being on ER all these years, but it still disgusts me. Once you see a video like that it's really hard to sit on the sidelines and say 'Who cares'."

Other celebrities who have spoken out against the hunt include the following:

Leonardo DiCaprio
Pierce Brosnan
Paris Hilton
Nick Carter 
Martin Sheen
Mick Jagger
John Paul DeJoria
Ed Bagley Jr.
Dave Foreman
Farley Mowat
Linda Blair
Berkeley Breathed
Richard Dean Anderson
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sean Penn
Christian Bale
Christina Applegate
Taryn Manning
Rutger Hauer
James Cromwell
Loretta Swit
Pamela Sue Martin