It was four decades ago that Brian Davies, our founder, pioneered the campaign to end the slaughter of baby seals in Canada. His work to expose the cruelty on the ice floes made headlines around the world, and the battle to save the seals became an icon for the animal protection movement.

In 1983, Brian’s work culminated in a historic victory when the European Union prohibited imports of the skins of newborn harp seals (whitecoats). Close on the heels of this success, the Canadian government bowed to the threat of a boycott of Canadian seafood products and banned the killing of whitecoats in 1987.

Sadly, the Canadian government invested massive subsidies into the sealing industry in the mid 1990s, allowing the sealers to kill the pups when they were just a few days older. Today, the Canadian seal hunt is twice as large as it was, and the skins of the seals are legally traded in Europe.

That is why Network for Animals is once again campaigning in Europe – this time to achieve a total prohibition on the seal product trade – regardless of the age of the seal. Many believe such a prohibition could spell the end not just for Canada’s commercial seal hunt, but also for commercial seal slaughter globally.