Fans are mourning the sudden passing of the “King of Pop,” who spent decades under a media microscope.

Here are some Jacko facts that fans may not know:

• The number-one song “Ben,” about a rat friend, was originally meant to be sung by Donny Osmond. (Thanks to The Michael Jackson Fan Club for that.)
• Our personal fave bit about the gloved one is that his “Earth Song” includes an obvious bash against the bloody seal slaughter at minute 3:27.

In Michael’s honour, take a minute to speak out against the seal slaughter.

It’s Canada Day! But we couldn’t be less in the mood for celebrating…

The annual seal massacre may be over for this year, but our campaign to end it for good has only just begun. Today our resident ’seal’ took on Canada’s iconic maple syrup industry, by whacking a 6-foot bottle of gooey ‘maple syrup’ with a ‘hakapik’ (the metal-tipped weapon sealers use to kill baby seals). But that wasn’t all. As soon as the weapon hit the bottle, ‘blood’ spurted out everywhere, to remind the Canadian High Commission and passers-by that Canada has baby seal’s blood on its hands.

During the annual seal slaughter, sealers bash seals’ heads in or shoot them before dragging their bodies over the ice. Baby seals are often skinned alive while their wailing mothers helplessly watch on. Canada may have ignored calls from around the world to stop the seal slaughter, but affecting the country’s maple syrup sales might get the government’s attention.

Reckon they’ll get the message?

Thanks to Natascha Nanji for the ‘bottle’!

With baby seal corpses littering Canadian ice floes, this year’s seal slaughter has finally ended – but the outrage over the Canadian government’s refusal to stop the killing is just getting revved up.

Outcry against the seal slaughter is echoing around the globe. The European Union and the U.S. have banned seal products, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for an immediate end to the slaughter, and world leaders have spoken out against the massacre. Demonstrations from London to Hamburg and Los Angeles to Toronto have made headlines, and people all over the world have sent a strong, united message that the seal bloodbath must end.

It’s clear that the Canadian seal slaughter is quickly losing favour and support: this year, about three quarters of the seals who were expected to be bludgeoned or shot to death were spared. But we still need your help to make sure that Canada doesn’t think the protests will end just because the killing has slowed.

One dead seal is still too many, so make sure you continue in the battle against the slaughter. A simple but effective way to do this is by boycotting Canadian maple syrup. How? Find out here!

Image: smh.com.au / cc

It doesn’t get much better than eating pancakes that have been drizzled with – or, as in my case, smothered in – maple syrup. If you prefer pure maple syrup over corn syrup, it’s time to take a minute to see where your favourite brand comes from. You can help put an end to the seal slaughter by signing our pledge to boycott Canadian maple syrup… starting now!

Why maple syrup? Canada produces about 85 percent of the world’s maple syrup, an industry that rakes in around $C213 million each year. Our newest campaign encourages supermarkets and restaurants to boycott Canada’s multimillion-dollar syrup industry. By persuading businesses to sign our pledge, we’re letting the Canadian government know that the country is going to get a serious hit in the wallet unless it declares an end to the seal massacre. We need your help though! Boycotting Canadian maple syrup, and encouraging all of your friends and family to do the same, is a major help in this campaign, so go get pledging!

No worries if your local eatery (or your own kitchen) is stocked with non-Canadian maple syrup or its cheaper cousin, corn syrup. Pour it on thick and be thankful that no seal blood was spilled for your breakfast.

Following our campaign in which over 100,000 letters and emails were sent by compassionate PETA supporters urging their MEPs (Members of European Parliament) to vote for a ban on seal fur products in the EU, the MEPs have voted in favour of the seals. Well done everybody!

The EU Parliament has recognised that these hunts can never, ever be humane and have soundly rejected compromises such as labelling that would scarcely be worth the paper that they’re written on. As a result of this decision, profits from this cruelty will be struck a severe blow and there will be less blood on the ice.

The Parliament’s decision is in line with the wishes of the majority of European citizens, good people across the globe, including of course, all Canadian citizens who are ashamed that their country is party to this bloody seal slaughter. There is a potential loophole that will be defined at a later point, but this ban should stop products of the commercial Canadian and Namibian hunt reaching the EU market.

Of course, this is wonderful news for seals. However, all the while that seals are being slaughtered in Canada, we still have work to do, people. Eyes now turn to the Canadian government, which has indicated that it will likely challenge the ban at the World Trade Organisation. So, what now? It’s time to focus our efforts on telling Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to put a permanent end to the massacre. We’re asking for 205,000 individuals worldwide to speak out in memory of the seals whom were bludgeoned with clubs, skinned alive and dragged while still conscious across the ice floes last year – go get ‘em!

Image: Britannica / CC

Ah, Sir Paul McCartney, is there nothing he wouldn’t do for animals? The Beatles superstar and longtime PETA pal is calling on the European Parliament to adopt a crucial seal fur ban that could potentially be implemented in the next few weeks – if MEPs vote the right way. If the ban goes ahead, the lives of millions of seals could be saved, as the trade in their fur is a lucrative business which helps fuel the bloodshed year after year. But, Sir Paul can’t do it alone! He needs your help in putting pressure on MEPs, and you can do this via our simple form here.

And what did Quebec Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette (who has signed a counter petition in response to international outrage at the slaughter) have to say in defence of the slaughter, “I’m not starting a campaign for people to stop eating vegetables.” Well, I think that just about says it all really, don’t you?

Image: amoeba / cc

Our friends over at PETA Germany have been busy reminding the people of Austria and Germany that hundreds of thousands (can you even begin to comprehend that number?) of baby seals are being slaughtered in Canada right now. They will be shot or beaten over the head with primitive clubs, impaled with metal hooks and have the skin ripped off their bodies. Their blood stains the ice red, and their skins are then sold around the world.

Check out these protest pics – inspirational, don’t ‘cha think? You can take urgent action yourself right here.

PETA activists donned seal costumes, doused themselves in fake blood and sprawled across the steps of Canada House today, to give a special welcome to Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, here for the G20 meeting tomorrow. Wrapped in white fur – including a coat donated by Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall, and a luxurious synthetic coat donated by Faux – the activists reminded Mr. Harper that the world is watching in horror as Canada slaughters baby seals for a product no one needs. This year, as many as 338,200 seals, most of whom are only weeks old, will be shot or beaten over the head with primitive clubs or impaled with metal hooks. Many will have the skin torn from their bodies as their mothers helplessly watch.

The deadline for getting your MEP to vote for a complete ban on seal fur products in the EU is drawing ever closer. Contact them here and help save thousands of baby seals.

The slaughter of hundreds of thousands of baby seals is due to begin today, around the Îles de la Madeleine in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada. Despite the Canadian government trying to keep a low profile on it, the date has finally been set and, sadly, today is the day when the ice floes will turn red with the blood of 280,000 baby seals – which is 5,000 more than last year’s quota. Of course, we we’re not letting Canada slip this in while whistling and looking sideways. We’ll scream it from the rooftops if we have to.

Ironically, the Canadian seal slaughter comes only days after Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, announced a total ban on baby seal hunting in the White Sea region, calling it a “bloody trade” that “should have been banned long ago”. You couldn’t be more right, Vlad, so how about having a little word with the folk over in Canada?

You can help bring down this bloody trade, by ensuring the sale of seal fur products in the European Union is banned. Send a letter to your MEP here!

Image: Britannica / CC

This, madames et monsieurs, is the seal slaughter:

Yep! We thought that it was awful too.

How can you help end this atrocity? I’m glad you asked. Click here.

Posted by Matt