International Seal Hunt Protest Movement:

March 15th marked the day of the international protest against the Canadian seal hunt. Many organizations cooperated to oppose this cruel hunt. Harp Seals.org, the Sea Shepherd Society, and Animal Liberation Front were some of the groups that protested. Protests were on a global Scale.

A protest was conducted in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Further protests occurred in key American cities such as Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Portland, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, Honolulu and Salt Lake City. 

Canadians proved that the majority are against this heartless slaughter with protests occurring in Calgary, Halifax, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Toronto, Vancouver, Windsor, and Winnipeg. 

To prove how international of an effort this protest was felt as far as Europe and Australia. In Europe protests occurred in Vienna (Austria), Antwerp (Belgium), Zagreb (Croatia), Paris, Nice Toulouse, and Nice (France), Berlin (Germany), Budapest (Hungary), Dublin (Ireland), Den Haag (Netherlands), Warsaw (Poland), Moscow and St. Petersburg (Russia), & London (United Kingdom).

Protests in Australia were in Melbourne and Sydney. The above cities are not meant to be a comprehensive list. Many more protests were felt from all around the world including in Cape Town, South Africa, and in India and Israel. One thing that all of the protests had in common regardless of ethnicity and location is that they consisted of brave animal lovers who are appalled at the barbarity of the Canadian Seal Hunt.

Far more people are opposed to the seal hunt, than the minority who profit from it. While in Sydney Australia I had the pleasure of meeting with the Animal Liberation Front who protested on March 15th. They were both very organized and simply outraged that such inhumane treatment of animals still occurs in a first world country like Canada.

While March 15th was in the international day of protest, it doesn't mean the end of the struggle. All over the world petitions are being signed, Canadian sea food boycotts, as well as tourism boycotts (mainly of Eastern Canada) are being conducted. Politicians are being contacted to oppose the imports of seal products. 

It's amazing to see that people from all over the world can overlook cultural differences to oppose what they rightfully view as wrong. If anything good can be said to come from the seal hunt, is that while it shows the worse of what humanity is capable of, on the opposite spectrum it shows the best of people.

The hunt is set to begin in late March. This year the government has made it extremely difficult to directly intervene against the hunt. In Canada the 'Seal Protection Act' makes it illegal to witness or document the slaughter of a seal pup without a permit from the government of Canada, who are known to not hand out permits to those who are opposed to the killing of seals. Those who show up without a permit will immediately be arrested, fined a minimum of $1000, and face the possibility of jail time.

Arresting individuals for protesting and documenting the seal hunt directly goes against the Canadian charter of Rights and Freedoms. Certain organizations such as the Sea Shepherd society are taking the government to court because of this. Since the courts are operated by the government it makes the case extremely difficult, and they will need the best of luck to repel the draconian 'Canadian Seal Act'.

A great thank you to everyone who opposed the seal hunt on March 15th, 2007 and who continue to do so. Below is a great picture from a seal hunt protest in Sydney conducted by the Animal Liberation Front. It clearly shows the vulnerability of the defenseless seals:

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