http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/letters/story.html?id=c36b97a9-b738-4c35-bbb2-62cfcb3d2b7b
Windsor Star
Published: Friday, March 06, 2009

Re: Russia To Ban Hunt of Baby Harp Seals, Feb. 28.

Greenland, Namibia and Canada are the three countries left that
slaughter baby harp seals and Canada is the largest marine mammal
slaughter in the world.

Kudos to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for seeing what this
hunt is -- a "bloody business ... that should have been banned long
ago."

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the government of Nova
Scotia announced they were cancelling their annual grey seal kill for
this year because seal processing plants told hunters they wouldn't
buy baby grey seals skins because global markets for seal products are
evaporating.

Our government lied. The hunt started Feb. 16.

Bridget Curran of the Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition was
disappointed the government did not tell anyone the hunt was going
ahead. Observers with permits were ready and were told the hunt was
cancelled. The DFO knew about these permits observers obtained and
that they were on standby to document the slaughter. Instead, the DFO
allowed sealers to slaughter 200 grey seals.

The Humane Society International/Canada is urging the Canadian
government to buy sealing licences and develop alternative economies
for coastal communities because, in a few weeks, the true target of
the slaughter, baby harp seals in Newfoundland, will be killed by the
hundreds of thousands.

This is a slaughterhouse on nursery soil. Let Newfoundland and
Labrador show these scenic sites in their expensive ads, especially
during the 2010 Winter Olympics -- gold medals on one end of the
country, the blood of babies on the other.

CHRISSY VANDERHEIDE-STOLARSKI

Windsor