We do that. The largest program area of the Humane Society of the United States, as I said earlier, is factory farming. We work in factory farms to improve conditions for animals and stop cruel factory farming practices. I could go on and on, but you can see it all on our website.
We do talk about cruelty to all animals, but this is a hunt for fur coats for the fashion industry. It brings in very little money for the people involved and could be replaced by the federal government in a heartbeat, if it wanted to do so. This hunt does not need to occur. It should have been ended half a century ago.
Global markets for seal products are closing fast. The European Union is going to shut down. The Council of Europe has just passed a recommendation for all of its 46 member countries, including Russia and Turkey, to ban seal products. We are seeing markets shutting. There is no future in the commercial sealing industry, just as in 1972 there was no future in commercial whaling in Canada. The government reacted then; it paid the whalers for their licenses, and whalers were able to reinvest in other opportunities. That's what we're asking for, for the people of Atlantic Canada. There is no future in the commercial seal hunt; those licenses are worth something today to those people, but they won't be in ten years.
We believe the government should act now for the people involved in the seal hunt, for the seals, and because Canada's international reputation is suffering every day it continues.