Dear Reader,

This year the Canadian government promised a more humane hunt.

They said “Canada’s seal hunt is humane, sustainable and responsible.” They lied. Thanks to your support, IFAW Hunt Observers have been on the ground and in the air documenting the hunt since it opened on the 28th of March. Only days into the hunt they have captured on camera instances where animals were shot and clearly left to suffer on the ice…in one case for over a minute. They have witnessed live seals being hooked and dragged across the ice.
And in one of the more disturbing moments they watched as a sealer wrote an expletive on the ice while a recently clubbed seal behind him started to move…obviously still alive.
Is this the Canadian government’s idea of a more humane hunt? Observing and documenting the hunt is not easy work.
It means hours of anxiously scanning the gulf region looking for sealing boats – because the Department of Fisheries and Oceans won’t release specific coordinates of where hunting is taking place.
It means watching hours of tape to make sure we document every violation that we captured on film.
But without this footage the world would have no idea of the kind of cruelty really taking place.

Please join with us in expanding the global community of activists needed to end the slaughter.
Visit the seal blog today to read the latest diaries from IFAW monitors at the hunt.
See the latest footage from the scene of the hunt and listen to IFAW monitors describe in their own words the cruelty they are documenting first hand.
And if you can, please consider making a donation to help in the fight to end this cruel and senseless hunt.
Of every dollar spent around the world by IFAW during the past three years, more than 83 cents went directly to animal welfare programs and institutional costs.
Your gift enables IFAW to document the cruelty of the seal hunt, fight for more seal product bans in Europe, conduct vital research to help save seals and works to end the exploitation of animals around the world.
The Canadian government will continue in their attempt to justify the seal hunt – both in Canada and abroad.

But no matter how the truth is distorted, it cannot change the fact that the seal hunt is terribly cruel and unneccesary. Your support is today is more critical than ever.

Thank you for standing with IFAW and with the seals.

Sincerely, Fred O’Regan President and CEO

P.S. Go to www.stopthesealhunt.org today for the latest news from the ice and to take action for the seals.