In a just-released letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Cathy Kangas, CEO and Founder of PRAI Beauty, a global beauty company, has offered to raise the $16 million that Canadian fishermen will realize from the sale of the pelts of slaughtered baby seals. Ms. Kangas wrote: “If you stop this year’s hunt immediately, we will provide you with the $16 million to be distributed at your discretion.” The Canadian government has stated repeatedly that the seal hunt provides needed off-season income to the fishermen in the communities of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland.
Ms. Kangas also proposed working with the Canadian government to institute a program to buy back existing fishing licenses and launch a program of eco-tourism in Northeastern Canada to replace the seal hunt. “Canadian fishermen could earn more money serving as park rangers for high end tours to Canada to see the beautiful spectacle of seals giving birth on the ice floes,” she noted. She said that whale-watching tours in Canada have been very successful attracting visitors.
“We are providing you with an alternative to what Paul McCartney called ‘a stain on the character of the Canadian people.’ If this is really simply an economic problem, then take our offer,” Mrs. Kangas stated in her letter. The money, she pointed out, will be raised from private citizens and animal protection groups worldwide which oppose the seal hunt including The Humane Society of the United States, which has more than nine million members.
Mrs. Kangas added: “With the worldwide boycott of Canadian seafood, the television coverage of baby seals being clubbed to death for their pelts, and the involvement of high-profile celebrities such as Heather and Paul McCartney and Bridget Bardot, one would think that Stephen Harper would welcome an economic solution to the seal hunt. We are willing to negotiate in good faith. However, should he choose to ignore my letter and continue with the hunt, we need to ask the world what will it take for Canada to end this barbaric practice?”
Cathy Kangas has championed animal welfare issues for more than twenty years. She presently serves on the Regional Council of IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and as an advisor to HSUS (Humane Society of the United States).
As CEO and Founder of PRAI Beauty, a global skin and beauty care company sold through the Internet and home shopping networks, she created “Beauty With A Cause.” Under this program, her company contributes a portion of its proceeds every month to a different animal protection organization.
Among the many animal protection organizations supported by Ms. Kangas through PRAI Beauty are: Animals Asia, which seeks to end the slaughter of cats and dogs in China for food; IFAW for the campaign to save the whales; Save the Chimps, which provides a sanctuary for chimps formerly used by the US Air Force; The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee; the United Pegasus Foundation for retired racehorses; the Wolf Conservation Center, Best Friends in Utah, the largest animal sanctuary in the world; and SPANA, which cares for working animals worldwide.
A copy of Mrs. Kangas’ letter to Prime Minister Harper is below.
Cathy Kangas
106 Clearview Lane
New Canaan, Connecticut 06840
March 21, 2006
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, KIA O42
Dear Prime Minister Harper:
Your government has repeatedly stated that the $16 million realized from the slaughter of Canadian baby seals is vital to the fishing communities of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland. If you stop this year’s hunt immediately, we will provide you with this $16 million to be distributed at your discretion. Furthermore, we will work with your government to institute a program to buy back the fishing licenses and begin a program of eco-tourism in Northeastern Canada, which would replace the seal hunt. Through this program, high-end tour companies, such as Abercrombie & Kent, would provide opportunities for its customers to see the beautiful spectacle of seals giving birth on the ice floes. This could be a whole new source of revenue for the region and fishermen could serve as Park Rangers showing the seals and protecting them.
The eyes of the world will be on Canada when the seal hunt begins. We are providing you with an alternative to what Paul McCartney called “a stain on the character of the Canadian people.” If this is really simply an economic problem, then take our offer. The money is being raised from animal protection groups worldwide including The Humane Society of the United States, which alone has more than 9 million members.
We are asking you to negotiate with us in good faith. If we do not hear back from your office before the start of the hunt, we will have no other choice than to take this offer to the Canadian and worldwide media. We are providing the Canadian government with an opportunity to end the seal hunt and provide fishermen with an alternative livelihood. We look forward to discussing this offer with you. I can be reached through my assistant Diane Jacobitti at (941) 929-7435.
Sincerely,
Cathy Kangas
For further information:
Mary Frances Duffy of The Dilenschneider Group, +1-212-922-0900, for PRAI Beauty
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