Ondanks jaren van wereldwijde protesten werden in 2024 31.764 zeehondenpups in Canada doodgeknuppeld voor hun bont. Dit wrede bloedvergieten zou allang tot het verleden moeten behoren, maar de jacht gaat door. Ondertussen is de zeehondenpopulatie sinds 1998 door klimaatverandering met ruim 3 miljoen dieren afgenomen, en de toekomst ziet er somber uit. Toch blijft de Canadese regering deze afgrijselijke jacht toestaan.
En dus geven we niet op! Samen met jou blijven we actievoeren voor de dieren. Elke handtekening vergroot de druk op de regering. Samen kunnen we deze jacht voorgoed stoppen.Â
Teken daarom nu de petitie die we overhandigen aan de Canadese premier Trudeau.
Dear Government of Canada,
 As in previous years, we are sending you another letter about the cruel seal hunt in Canada. Millions of people worldwide have been urging you for years to ban seal hunting immediately and indefinitely.  Â
Until 2022, there was a downward trend in seal hunting, mainly due to the import ban on seal fur from commercial hunting in 35 countries worldwide. In 2022, 27,266 seals were bludgeoned or shot for their fur. By 2023, the number had risen to 39,922 and in 2024, 31,764 seals were killed. In 2022, pup production was at its lowest since 1994. We are shocked by these figures and numbers.
In the Scientific Advisory Report 2025/006 published on your government website, we read that the estimated total number of harp seals in 2024 is 4.4 million. This represents a decrease of more than 3 million seals since 1998, when the estimated number was 7.5 million. It also says that given predicted environmental changes, the expectation is a decline in vital rates which could lead to further population decline, which means that hunting becomes even more unnecessary than it is already.
Nevertheless, on March 12, 2025, the Sealers Association issued a press release arguing that seal hunting is necessary. That, of course, is not true. There is still no evidence that further seal population reduction would benefit fish stocks.
We will continue to stand up for the tens of thousands of seals killed each year, and we urge once again that this be stopped. This hunt serves no meaningful purpose.Â
Â
