79% Say ‘Stop Canadian Seal Hunt’ – 73% Say ‘Ban Seal Imports’
15 November 2005
Today (Tuesday 15 November), to coincide with the first official day of the Canadian seal hunt season, Respect for Animals releases opinion poll figures that show an overwhelming 79% of UK residents believe that the annual Canadian seal hunt should be stopped and 73% think there should be a ban on the import of seal products into Britain.
Respect for Animals is calling on the UK government to ban the import of all seal products in to the UK – a trade worth £500,000 annually.
The Canadian seal hunt is the largest marine mammal hunt in the world. Almost one million seals, 96% of which are under three months old, have been clubbed and shot to death over the last three years. An international group of independent vets concluded, in 2001, that the hunt resulted in ‘considerable and unacceptable suffering’. Research concluded that in 42% of carcasses examined, the seals were likely to have been skinned whilst still conscious.
Mark Glover, director, Respect for Animals, says: ‘I personally witnessed last season’s hunt, the scale and cruelty of the slaughter is almost unimaginable. International governments have an urgent responsibility to bring pressure to bear to stop this considerable and unnecessary suffering. We are calling on the government to act now. Until this trade is banned, the UK has the blood of the seals on its hands’.
Over 150 Members of Parliament have signed an Early Day Motion (EDM 237) calling on the UK government ‘to prohibit the import of all seal products into the UK’. Belgium has recently instigated legislation; Italy has indicated its intention to do so. The US banned the trade in 1972. In 1983 the EU banned the import of products from ‘newborn’ seals – but further action is now needed to stop this annual slaughter.
Mr Glover adds: ‘Please write to Ian Pearson, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister, asking him to put an end to this cruelty by implementing a British prohibition on the trade in all seal products’.
Ian Pearson MP, Minister for Trade, can be contacted at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH. Email: pearsoni@parliament.uk
More information is available at: www.respectforanimals.org and www.boycott-canada.com.
For further information please contact:
Shely Bryan, Respect for Animals: 07710 148957 or 0115 9525440
*ORB conducted the nationally representative survey, of 1,003 British residents, by telephone between 14 and 16 October 2005. Questions asked and breakdown of results attached.
Canadian Seal Hunt Survey (S.5082)
October 2005
- Results from a nationally representative survey of 1,003 adults (aged 18+) in Great Britain
- Data are weighted to the profile of the adult British population
- Fieldwork conducted 14-16 October 2005
Q1: As you may know, each year in Canada there is seal hunt where seals are killed mainly for their fur. Based on what you may have seen, heard or read about it do you think the annual Canadian seal hunt should be allowed to continue or should it be stopped? Base: All (1,003)
| Allowed to continue | 10% |
| Should be stopped | 79% |
| Don’t know if it should be allowed to continue or if it should be stopped | 2% |
| Don’t Know enough about it | 8% |
Q2: Most of the seal products that result from the annual hunt in Canada are exported. Britain receives a lot of these exports, and in 2004, British trade in seal products was valued at over half a million pounds.
| Should ban imports of Canadian seal products | 73% |
| Should continue to allow imports of Canadian seal products | 17% |
| Don’t know if it should be allowed to continue or if it should be stopped | 2% |
| Don’t Know enough about it | 7% |