Silent protest against the Namibian seal hunt

In July and August 2019 Bont voor Dieren made a powerful statement against the Namibian seal hunt with two Silent Protests. One was held on the iconic Dam Square in Amsterdam, the other one took place on the very busy Stationsplein in Utrecht. While standing in formation, team members and volunteers stood for 1,5 hours holding protest signs with messages against the hunt of Cape fur seals. While remaining completely silent to focus attention to the silenced seal hunt. Some signs showed a bloodied Namibian flag, others showed the Cape fur seals while other signs showed the brutal hunt. All signs contained the statement ‘Stop the slaughter in Namibia’.

Large numbers of people took photo’s and video’s and shared these on social media. Team members of Bont voor Dieren spoke with these bystanders to explain the protest. While the Canadian seal hunt is infamous, very little is known about the hunt in Namibia. Few people know that up to 86,000 Cape fur seals are brutally clubbed to death for their fur between July and December. It is also practically unknown that Namibia could generate 300% more income from the seal watching tourism industry as opposed to the seal hunt. With this knowledge, the bystanders signed our petition to the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries to demand an end to this hunt. Afterwards, these supporters could also have their picture taken while holding the signs with the statement: ‘I’m against the Namibian seal slaughter too’. You can support our campaign by signing our petition.