Rally at Red Lobster this week to protect seals

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od/september_2005_RL_week_of_action_schedule.html

 

 

As you know, we at The Humane Society of the United

States have been working hard to save the animal

victims of Hurricane Katrina. But we have not stopped

thinking about another terrible event we know is on

the way: the March 2006 Canadian seal hunt.

 

The Canadian government and fishing industry are busy

making plans for another hunt, which will probably

begin on March 29 - unless we can stop it. The thought

of another massacre of more than 300,000 helpless

seals on the ice sickens me, and I know you feel the

same.

 

But we don’t have to sit back and let it happen.

 

Red Lobster: Don't Buy Canadian Seafood

 

 

Join our week of action against Red Lobster,

starting September 15.

 

 

Click here to Find a rally near you!

 

 

Please join me and advocates nationwide at selected

Red Lobster restaurants over the next several days to

protect seals.

 

As you may remember, we have called for a nationwide

boycott of seafood produced in Canada as a means to

stopping the annual slaughter of seals. This strategy

is based on two facts: First, North Atlantic fishermen

are the ones who kill seals during the off-season. And

second, the Canadian government has told us they will

only stop the hunt when the powerful Canadian fishing

industry tells it to.

 

As soon as our boycott was announced, companies,

restaurants, and concerned people like you began

signing our pledge to boycott Canadian seafood.

Companies ranging from influential seafood distributor

Downeast Seafood, to natural foods retailer Whole

Foods, to the famous Tavern on the Green have joined

the boycott, all promising to significantly reduce or

end their Canadian seafood purchases until Canada

stops the seal hunt for good.

 

The boycott is starting to work. We know it’s no

coincidence that in Newfoundland, where almost all

sealers live, the snow crab industry has suffered a

$100 million dollar loss since last year. One of the

reasons? Large inventories of snow crab remain unsold

in the United States.

 

But the Canadian government refuses to budge. That’s

why we are continuing to pressure the United States’

largest seafood restaurant chain, Red Lobster, to join

the boycott. The company and its parent, Darden

Restaurants, purchase millions of dollars worth of

Canadian seafood each year and have the economic power

to tip the scales toward ending the hunt and saving

untold numbers of baby seals from a horrible death

next year.

 

And that’s why I’m asking you to join me and other

caring people for a week of demonstrations at Red

Lobster restaurants across the United States and

Canada starting tomorrow, September 15. Just click

here to find the rally nearest you and its scheduled

date. Then contact the local organizer and come on

out. You'll be joined by other animal supporters who

are dedicated to ending the awful seal hunt forever.

 

As the 2006 Canadian seal hunt season approaches, it

is essential that we persuade Red Lobster to stand

with us - and not against us - in fighting the

largest, bloodiest commercial slaughter of marine

mammals in the world. Please join with us over the

next few days to save the seals before it is too late.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Rebecca Aldworth of Canadian Wildlife Issues

The Humane Society of the United States