Chasse aux phoques (WWF)

[Animal 0]

Suite 612, 1 Nicholas Street, Ottawa Canada . International Headquarters, 75
Attucks Lane, Hyannis, MA 02601, USA



In alliance with: Environment Voters, Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS), Animal Alliance of Canada, Animal Protection Institute, Canadian
Alliance for Furbearing Animals, World Society for the Protection of
Animals, Zoocheck Canada; Respect for Animals, RSPCA, MSPCA, Born Free,
Vancouver Humane Society, Nova Scotia Humane Society, and the ASPCA.






MEDIA RELEASE


For Immediate Release





World Wildlife Fund Canada Seal Meeting Called a Whitewash



(Toronto, 26 May 2005) - A number of the world's largest animal welfare
organizations are condemning a meeting funded by World Wildlife Fund-Canada
(WWF-Canada), and being held in collaboration with the Canadian Department
of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) that began in Halifax this morning.

In a letter sent earlier this week to veterinarians invited to
participate in the meeting, fourteen animal welfare groups charged that the
purpose of the meeting is not "to objectively assess hunting practices with
respect to the Canadian harp seal population" - as stated in a draft agenda
leaked to one of the groups earlier this month - but rather to whitewash the
cruelty concerns associated with Canada's commercial seal hunt.

The Ad Hoc Meeting of Veterinarians to Assess Humane Practices
of the Canadian Harp Seal Hunt runs from 26 - 28 May at the Casino Nova
Scotia Hotel in Halifax. The participants will hear presentations from a
number of DFO employees, and the sealing industry. No animal welfare
organizations or their staff veterinarians have been invited to participate.

Dr. David Lavigne, Science Advisor to the International Fund for
Animal Welfare (IFAW) said, "There is nothing that this group of
veterinarians will be able to tell WWF and DFO about killing seals that they
don't already know. Meetings of 'experts' such as this have been
orchestrated by the Canadian government for decades. History tells us that
the veterinarians are being exploited for their propaganda value by DFO. I
am surprised that WWF-Canada is risking its scientific credibility by
helping them in this way."

Liz White, Director of the Animal Alliance of Canada, said,
"This meeting is a gross violation of WWF - Canada's published code of
Advocacy with Excellence. WWF claims it is non-ideological, yet only seal
hunt proponents will be giving information to the veterinarians. WWF claims
it bases its advocacy on the best scientific advice available, yet they've
excluded those with the best knowledge of humane hunting practices. WWF says
it recognizes that issues have a wide range of stakeholders, yet it is
keeping out groups who represent the majority opinion on the cruelty of the
seal hunt. WWF says it stays within its area of expertise, yet it is
sponsoring a meeting on an issue that it has ignored in the past, an issue
in which it has no expertise or experience. Why is WWF-Canada sponsoring an
event whose obvious political purpose is to whitewash the seal hunt?"

Rebecca Aldworth, Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues for The Humane
Society of the United States (HSUS) said, "It is inexcusable for the
WWF-Canada to sponsor a meeting on humane aspects of the commercial seal
hunt with the very government department tasked with promoting and defending
the sealing industry. For them to neglect to involve the very people who
have most consistently documented and observed the seal hunt over the past
decade shows a clear bias. If they hope to become a credible voice for
conservation, WWF-Canada has no choice but to withdraw its sponsorship from
this politically-motivated meeting."





- 30 -





For further information, contact:



David Lavigne, Science Advisor, IFAW

519-767-1948



Steven Best, Founding Director, Environment Voters

519-925-3440



Rebecca Aldworth, Director, Canadian Wildlife Issues, Humane Society of the
United States

514-395-2914; Cell 514-575-6797



Liz White, Director, Animal Alliance of Canada

416-462-9541, ext. 23; Cell 416-809-4371



In Halifax, contact Rob Sinclair, IFAW Campaigner

416-891-8918





Barry Kent MacKay

Canadian Representative

Animal Protection Institute

www.api4animals.org <http://www.api4animals.org/>

[Animal 0]

Sunday » May 29 » 2005

Animal-rights group disputes claims of increase in harp seal population

Barb Sweet
CanWest News Service


Wednesday, May 25, 2005


The Northwest Atlantic harp seal population is holding steady, federal
scientists say. The population according to the 2004 count is 5.9 million, which
is about 400,000 above the last count in 2000, said Garry Stenson, section head
for marine mammals at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. But the animal-rights group
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) suspects the data may be flawed.
The count is based on pup population, the removal of seals by harvesting and
reproductive rates. The data used is comprised of 8,000 aerial photos that take
a year to interpret and was reviewed by the National Marine Mammal Peer Review
Committee this month.

National Post 2005



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