Iggy Pop And Ke$Ha Target Clubbing Of Seals

For Immediate Release:
15 April 2011

Contact:
Sandra Smiley 0207 357 9229, ext 229; [email protected]

London – Two of music’s most outspoken stars, Iggy Pop and Ke$ha, are fronting PETA’s campaign against the seal slaughter as the annual massacre begins on the ice floes of eastern Canada. The ads feature the artists alongside an inset photo of a baby seal and the words “Canada’s Club Scene Sucks”.

The campaign aims to combat the Canadian government’s attempts to market baby seal fur internationally in order to prop up the dying seal fur trade. “Clubbing baby seals is sick and gives Canada a black eye”, says Iggy, who also filmed an exclusive video interview with PETA US. “Don’t let the greed of a few tarnish the image of the whole country.”

“I was lucky enough to get to watch a bunch of wild seals recently and truly fell in love with these amazing creatures”, says Ke$ha, who titled her first album Animal. “Canada gets to be host to harp seals each year during their migration to the ice to give birth, which is beautiful and peaceful. But because the babies’ fur is so soft, there are people who club and brutally kill these young animals. The Canadian seal slaughter is barbaric and archaic.”

During the annual slaughter, hundreds of thousands of baby seals are slated to have their heads bashed in or be shot. The Canadian government spends more than £4 million of taxpayers’ money each year defending the controversial seal slaughter, which makes up less than 1 per cent of Newfoundland’s economy. The EU and the US have banned the import of seal products, and world leaders – including US President Barack Obama, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin – have spoken out against the carnage.

High-resolution versions of the ads are available upon request. For more information or to view the ads, please visit PETA.org.uk or click here for Iggy’s ad and here for Ke$ha’s.