Urge the Olympic Committee to Help Stop the Seal Slaughter

PETA is calling on the Olympic Organizing Committee to help stop Canada's annual seal massacre.

All eyes are on Canada as it prepares to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. This extra attention will bring increased scrutiny and comes with the added responsibility of setting a positive example for the world. That's why we are calling on the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to help stop the Canadian seal slaughter.

During Canada's annual seal massacre, hundreds of thousands of baby seals are shot or have their skulls crushed, all for the sake of "fashion". Sealers routinely hook seals in their eyes, cheeks or mouths to avoid damaging their pelts, then drag the seals across the ice, often without checking to make sure that they are unconscious.

Baby seals, many of whom are only weeks old when they're barbarically killed, have their skulls smashed in or are shot point-blank by hunters who are driven by profit and greed. The anguish which a mother seal feels as she watches her baby being beaten to death just a few feet away from her is horrifying and can be heard in her desperate cries and seen in her attempts to get to her baby.

The 2009 seal slaughter has ended, but PETA's campaign to stop the massacre permanently has just begun. It is clear that the Canadian seal slaughter is quickly losing favour and support: this year, about three-fourths of the seals who were scheduled to be bludgeoned or shot to death were spared. But we still need your help to make sure Canada does not think the protests will end just because the killing slowed. Urge Canada's Prime Minister and the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to help stop the slaughter forever.