Good news: This year's barbaric seal slaughter ended last night, and thanks to caring people like you who repeatedly took action to save seals, we are one step closer to ending the seal massacre once and for all. More than 80 percent of the seals who had been marked for death were spared this year!

The worldwide demand for seal fur is plummeting, thanks in part to activists like you, and this is the beginning of the end for the seal slaughter. The European Union has banned the sale of seal products, and the U.S. Senate unanimously passed U.S. Senate Resolution 84, which calls for an end to the annual seal slaughter. There are few places left for sealers to sell the pelts of the dead animals because of the global outcry against the slaughter that we have created, and as a result, we are slowly but surely winning the fight against the annual massacre. Thank you for all that you've done to save the seals - your efforts have made a difference!

However, while this year's slaughter is over, we must all promise not to let up in our fight. We ALL must have year-long plans to continue to apply pressure to the Canadian government. So that the bloody painful -- slaughter of Seals DOES NOT RESUME!

The 2009 Canadian seal slaughter has officially ended, and we're happy to tell you that this year, about three-fourths of the seals who were scheduled to be bludgeoned or shot to death during the annual war on seals were spared. More than 300,000 of these gentle creatures were scheduled to die during the blood bath on the ice, but more than 200,000 seals did not suffer the cruel fate that Canada had intended for them. They did not have to feel the pain of having their skull bashed in or feel what it's like to have a hook stuck through their eye, cheek, or mouth just so that their fur could be stolen for "fashion." This dramatic decline in the number of seals who were killed during the slaughter is largely because the price of seal fur has fallen over the years as the disgust over the slaughter increases. The European Union and the U.S. have banned seal products, and world leaders have spoken out against the massacre. Demonstrations from London to Hamburg and Los Angeles to Toronto have made the headlines, and kind people all over the world have sent a strong, united message that the seal slaughter must end.

The European Union has slammed shut the door on trade in the products of the commercial seal slaughter. The Canadian government used every trick in the book to try to derail the ban: massive lobbying, misinformation, and even threats of trade reprisals. But the EU stood its ground, and honored its citizens' opposition to this trade in cruelty. By doing so, the EU has saved millions of seals from a horrible fate.

Rebecca Aldworth - Director, Wildlife Issues - Humane Society International/Canada - I am devastated to have to say that on Monday, sealers butchered 200 of these pups -- just to provide "samples" to a Newfoundland seal processing company.

Sealers Stay Home as Pelt Market Disappears - SYDNEY, Nova Scotia - Due to a decline in the global markets for seal pelts, Canada's sealing community has indicated that Nova Scotia's annual grey seal kill will be canceled this year. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the government of Nova Scotia announced last week that the kill would take place again on Hay Island, a protected wilderness sanctuary, but media reports confirm that sealers have been unable to find seal pelt buyer. In light of these developments, HSI/Canada is urging the Canadian government to compensate affected workers by buying out sealing licenses, and to develop alternative economies for coastal communities.

"The cancellation of Nova Scotia's grey seal hunt is a tremendous victory for the seals," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane Society International/Canada. "It is incredibly heartening to know that thousands of seal pups will be spared from a fate similar to the unbearable carnage we documented last year during the slaughter on Hay Island."

How far we've come -- and the progress we're making...

Photo: The HSUS - Together, we're making progress to protect these wonderful animals and end the cruel Canadian seal hunt.

Here's the most exciting piece of news: the European Environment Commissioner has announced a plan to ban the trade in all seal products originating from inhumane hunts. This builds upon the historic declaration by the European parliament in 2006. If an EU-wide ban is enacted, the fashion houses serving the main markets for seal skins today -- China and Russia -- would be forced to stop, and millions of baby seals would be saved from cruel slaughter. In the meantime, many nations have either banned seal product trade or announced their intentions to do so. They include: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia, Panama, Mexico, and the United States.Just the potential for an EU ban on seal products has saved thousands of seals already. Prices paid for seal skins this year have declined so much that most sealers have chosen to stay home.

To tell the EU that you strongly support a total ban on trade in seal products, please sign our petition here.

And we have more good news. The HSUS-led boycott of Canadian seafood in the U.S. has attracted more than 618,000 individuals, 3,500 restaurants, and major grocery chains such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. With more than 80% of Newfoundland's fishing revenue coming from shellfish andless than 3%from the seal hunt, we have tremendous leverage as consumers to end this hunt! Fishermen are fast realizing they stand to lose more from killing seals than they will ever hope to gain.

The Canadian Government has started the LARGEST BLOODY MASSIVE SLAUGHTER OF OVER, OVER 900,000 HARP SEALS in the GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE.

We ask for your support for ALL the HARP SEALS to BOYCOTT CANADIAN SEAFOOD (snow crabs, cod, scallops, shrimp) UNTIL CANADA ENDS THIS HORRIFIC SEAL HUNT FOR GOOD!

With nearly 95,000 actions taken to help end Canada's commercial seal hunt, your support is making a huge difference.

In just the last few months:

Your support enabled us to show the world the tragic truth about what is happening to the hundreds of thousands of baby seals who died as a result of poor ice conditions or at the hands of sealers.

One of the largest processors of sealskins in Canada, Carino Company Limited, is offering only about half the price it paid in 2006 for top quality beater sealskins this year, stating that at the end of last year "all sales stopped". Austria and France declared their intention to ban the import of seal products. They join the US, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Mexico and Croatia in speaking out against Canada's cruel, unsustainable, and unnecessary slaughter of harp seal pups.

THE MASSIVE BLOODY SEAL HUNT HAS BEGUN AGAIN, AS OF MARCH 25th, 2007 !!!

With the recent election of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in February 2006. We have renewed hope that 2006 will be the last year that seals are clubbed and shot by Canadian fishermen for their fur.

Please join us in urging Prime Minister Harper to END the seal hunt FOR GOOD!

As Prime Minister Harper begins his term, we must do everything in our power to influence the Canadian government and save countless baby seals from a massive bloody and painful slaughter !!!!

EXPRESS YOUR OUTRAGE !!! ON THIS BRUTAL, HORRIFIC SENSELESS BLOODY SLAUGHTER !! THE CANADIAN HARP SEAL HUNT !!!

"CANADA" AND "NEWFOUNDLAND" ARE RUNNING AND RUNNING AWAY FROM A POSITION THAT THEY WILL NEVER, NEVER DEFEND"

Canada's natural resources minister John Efford in a full-length seal coat stating that he would like to see 6 million seals slaughtered in Canada.