Seal product ban proposed by European Parliament

[flvegan]

ST. JOHN'S -- A declaration signed yesterday by the European parliament demanding a ban on seal products was hailed by animal rights activists as the beginning of the end for Canada's centuries-old commercial seal hunt.

The proposal, which has several hurdles to clear before it becomes law, aims to close much of the European market to seal skins and fur, officials said.

more
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/National/2006/09/07/1810240-sun.html

and, of course:

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_060906_1.html

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society applauds the fact that the European Parliament has adopted a proposal by South-East England's Green Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas designed to halt the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals in Canada and Russia.

Lucas, who is also a Vice-President of the RSPCA, which awarded her its “Michael Kay Award” earlier this year to mark an “outstanding contribution to European animal welfare,” co-sponsored a Written Declaration, along with four other parliamentary colleagues, calling for a ban on the import or sale of any products from hooded or harp seals.

Written Declarations are the European Parliament's equivalent of an Early Day Motion in the UK House of Commons. They rarely receive the support of sufficient MEPs to become the parliament's official policy – but with 373 signatures lodged, the call for a seal fur import ban has done so two weeks ahead of its parliamentary deadline.

Dr Lucas, also the Green Party's Principal Speaker, said, "This is fantastic news, which brings us a significant step closer to ending the cruel and entirely unnecessary slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals in Canada and Russia every year.

more at link, above

[LeftyMom]

1. That would make a huge difference

Since the coture houses are the primary wholesale buyers, outlawing the use of seal pelts in Europe would eliminate most of the market, since it's already illegal in the US and most of the big design houses are in continental Europe or the US, as is thier customer base.

Hope this works. I'd like to think it would, they usually have better AR laws there than we do here.