Pamela Anderson: Starts anti-seal hunt campaign

Pamela Anderson: Starts anti-seal hunt campaign

Former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson has the desire to save the seals from the annual hunt on Canada's East Coast.

Sources have thrown light on this news on Pamela Anderson. According to them the Canadian-born actress has joined other celebrities who are taking part in a new ad campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Pamela Anderson, who was in town to launch her animal-friendly clothing line at Fashion Week, paid visit to the Ontario provincial legislature on Friday to introduce the new ads.

The ads showing celebrities wearing white T-shirts with a drawing of a baby seal. The ad also features gossip blogger Perez Hilton, actresses Jennie Garth and Jorja Fox, singers Sarah McLachlan and Kelly Osborne and many more.

Anderson's ad reads, "What do I have in common with Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and the Dalai Lama? We all oppose the massacre of baby seals. It's time to end Canada's shameful slaughter."

Outside the Ontario legislature building, fifty two year old Anderson cuddled a seal mascot and told supporters that she wanted to prevent the "barbaric massacre" of seals.

She added, "When I travel all over the world, the Canadian seal hunt is a huge issue that people talk to me about," "So I'm trying to save some embarrassment."

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea called Anderson's remarks disappointing and suggested she spend time with East Coast sealers to understand the hunt's importance.

Shea told the Canadian Press, "Hollywood celebrities are not going to dictate policy in Canada because we make decisions that are based on science and consultation with Canadians,"

Canada's East Coast seal hunt, occurring annually from mid-November to mid-May, mostly in Newfoundland and Labrador and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is the largest in the world and thus has resulted in killing an average of 300,000 harp seals annually.

Animal rights groups have protested the annual hunt, by saying that it is cruel, poorly monitored and provides little economic benefit. Seal hunters and Canadian authorities said that it is sustainable, humane and provides income for villagers in isolated northern indigenous Inuit communities.

PETA claims that it is not targeting the aboriginal hunt but the large-scale East Coast commercial hunt.

PETA says its ads will appear in entertainment magazines and on blogs and will be tweeted in many languages starting this fall. Their motive is to create pressure on the government year-round instead of just during the spring when protests occur during the hunt.