Obama, who has not spoken publicly about the seal hunt since becoming the United States President, vowed in a 2006 letter to animal-rights activists to work with colleagues "to ensure that we take all the necessary steps to express our outrage" with the Canadian government."I share your concerns about the Canadian seal hunt," Obama wrote to a member of People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, in the letter, dated April 13, 2006.
"As you know, Canada annually opens its eastern waters to commercial seal hunting. The United States and European Union have been unified in their opposition to the slaughter of seals by passing legislation decades ago to restrict the sale of seal-based products within their borders," Obama wrote. "I certainly believe in the spirit of these acts; the U.S. should not condone this recent Canadian action."
A PETA official said Obama's 2006 letter was "recently rediscovered in the files of a member who keeps very good records of our correspondence with the U.S. government."
The letter was released publicly today as part of a renewed PETA campaign that requests Obama renew his commitment to ending the Canadian seal hunt.
On March 24th 2006 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper commented on the seal hunt, saying: "This is an important economic activity for communities that are highly reliant on this... Unfortunately, we're to some degree the victim of a bit of an international propaganda campaign. We believe the country is acting responsibly and we'll make sure all rules are enforced."
So wait... Canada makes money by allowing foreigners to come into Canada and kill seals... for what? The fur industry? For fun? How much money are we supposedly making off this?
And how is Canada's northern Inuit communities making money off this? They hunt seals for food year round, so what is the reason for having a seal hunting season and allowing foreigners to come to Canada just to kill seals for fur/fun? Wouldn't it make sense to allow the seal population to grow, so that the Inuit have more seals to hunt and eat?
Somehow I doubt Canada is really making that much money off the harvesting of adult and baby seals.
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