Kick-off Namibia campaign

On July 10th 2019, Bont voor Dieren launched the campaign ‘Stop the slaughter in Namibia’. For two hours, a fake seal, guided by a scuba diver, swam through the canals of Amsterdam. Actress Anna Drijver was part of the conspiracy and sent a post about the seal through social media. The campaign drew attention to the mass slaughter of seals in the African country.

“Mission accomplished!” Anna’s message was shared extensively and drew many curious people to the canals. Comedian Ruben van der Meer also participated and shared the message via social media. Later that morning, the ‘seal’ swam near the iconic bridge at the corner of the Keizersgracht/Reguliersgracht where team members of Bont voor Dieren dropped a banner with the text ‘Fled from the seal hunt? Stop the slaughter in Namibia. Sign the petition on bontvoordieren.nl’. The petition urges the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries to put an immediate end to this hunt.

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Fur is irrefutably linked to animal suffering

The Namibian Ministry of Fisheries issues licences to hunters to club up to 86,000 Cape seals to death for their fur between July and December. This includes 80,000 pups and 6,000 adult animals. Because of these numbers, this hunt is larger than the world infamous seal hunt in Canada. At sunrise, the Namibian seals are herded together on the beaches. Only to be brutally killed. Before the tourists arrive that same day, all the blood is cleaned off the beaches. Bont voor Dieren director Natalie Wanga: “Fur is a senseless luxury product, irrefutably linked to animal suffering. The Cape fur seals in Namibia are killed in a horrific way. This must stop. Various studies have shown that the hunt not only disrupts the ecosystem, but Namibia also benefits up to 300% more from seal watching tourism than from the seal hunt.”

The idea to use a fake seal to draw attention to this campaign, came from a real seal which swam for several weeks in the Dutch canals and rivers. Roorda Reclamebureau, an advertising agency which in the last couple of years has joined forces with Bont voor Dieren, was the driving force behind this campaign. In the upcoming months, during our street protests as well as online, we will ask people to sign the petition. Do you also support our fight against the Namibian seal hunt?