IFAW and the Seal Hunt – A Brief History

The International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW, became known around the world in the 1970s and 1980s as it led the fight to stop the cruel slaughter of Canadian seal pups. IFAW’s historic success in the 1980s — the virtual collapse of the commercial seal hunt as a result of import bans on whitecoat seal pelts — is considered to be one of the most visible and important wins in the animal protection movement.

Beginning in 1996, the Canadian government provided large subsidies to rebuild the sealing industry around the pelts from seals that have just molted their white fur, called beaters. Ninety-eight percent of the seals killed in recent years are still between 2 weeks and 3 months old.

Over the last few years, the Canadian government has raised the annual seal hunt quotas to the highest level in history, taking almost a million seals in a three year period. Yet international pressure to end the seal hunt is growing, with Belgium recently becoming the first European country to ban all seal products. Other EU countries are also working to enact their own seal product bans, thanks to the efforts of IFAW and others.

Of every dollar spent around the world during the past three years, more than 83 cents went directly to animal welfare programs and institutional costs. IFAW continues the costly, dangerous task of documenting the seal hunt each year, as well as:

• Fighting to secure bans on all seal products across Europe
• Researching the economic costs/benefits of the seal hunt and its byproducts, as well as the population and conservation issues
• Bringing journalists to the ice
• Generating a global media presence around the seal hunt issue through the production of PSAs and other forms of media
• Attending key conferences to reinforce or re-establish international laws to protect seals
• Conducting research on the impact of global warming on seals and publicizing the results

Today, with offices in 15 countries, IFAW is the world's leading animal welfare organization, preserving species and protecting habitat, rescuing animals in distress, and providing them shelter and rehabilitation.