Seal Pup Protection Day: Spare My Life, Do Not Club!

Seal cubs have been a lucrative target for the fashion industry for decades because of their snow-white fur. They live in the northern Atlantic, the White, Barents, Kara and Greenland Sea.

The mother seal carries a pup for 11 months and gives birth in spring. For the first ten days, the baby’s fur remains absolutely white, and this beauty puts them in high demand for hunters.

Hunters kill the beautiful and helpless pups by beating them to death with clubs. The massive commercial hunt, cultivated by fashion business demands, almost put the harp seal on the verge of extinction at the end of the 20th century.

Above: Grey seal cub Nikolaus licks a window at the seal enclosure in Friedrichskoog, northern Germany

The non-governmental International Fund for Animal Welfare, established in 1969 by a group of environmental defenders in Canada, works to stop the “barbarian” hunt. IFAW is the group that actually introduced the Day of Action for the Seals.

The active campaigns for animal protection is supported by celebrities and has encouraged countries to take measures against seal fur business.

Since 1986, the import and sales of seal pup fur in the United States, Mexico and European countries has been prohibited. Public appearance in clothes made of seal pup fur is considered in bad taste in the European Union.

Russia outlawed seal pup hunting in 2009 after a powerful campaign was joined by artists, scholars, musicians and other high-profile figures.

Despite public pressure, however, Canada, Namibia and Norway have not put an end to the cruel business.

Above: A newly born grey seal pup suckles his his mother Laura at the North Sea Oceannarium in Hirtshals, Northern Denmark

Environmental activists all over the world appeal to people's conscience: is making a fashion statement really worth of a baby seal’s life?