The Humane Society of the United States is pleased to announce that Lowe's Food Stores has joined The HSUS ProtectSeals campaign to stop the cruel and unnecessary slaughter of baby harp seals by commercial fishermen in Canada.

With headquarters in Winston-Salem and more than 100 grocery stores, Lowe's Food Stores is the third -- and the largest -- North Carolina based grocery chain to join the ProtectSeals campaign this spring. Lowe's Food Stores are located in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

"We're thrilled to welcome Lowe's Food Stores to the campaign and are honored to have their help," said Patricia Ragan, director of The ProtectSeals Campaign. "With the strong commitment shown by Lowe's Food today, North Carolina is well on its way to being one of the nation's most seal-friendly states."    

Lowe's Foods Stores joins more than 3,600 restaurants, grocery stores, hotels and casinos across the United States that have pledged to avoid buying Canadian seafood until the government-sanctioned kill ends. Other campaign participants include Harris Teeter, Earth Fare, Legal Sea Foods, Whole Foods Markets, Trader Joe's, Margaritaville Cafés, Ted Turner's Ted's Montana Grill, Oceanaire Seafood Room and Bon Appétit Management Company.

By encouraging restaurants, chefs and consumers to boycott Canadian seafood, The HSUS intends to convince that country's fishing industry to stop participating in and supporting the commercial seal kill.

This year's commercial seal kill began March 28. Fishermen from Canada's east coast have been authorized by the Canadian Government to kill 275,000 harp seals this year. In the first two weeks, HSUS filmed sealers consistently violating the few regulations that exist to protect seals.

Facts:

• Canada's commercial seal kill is the world's largest slaughter of marine mammals, with nearly one million seals killed in the past three years.
• Restaurants, seafood distributors and grocers participating in the ProtectSeals campaign pledge to avoid Canadian snow crab, or all seafood from Eastern Canada, or seafood from all of Canada until the kill ends for good. The HSUS has signed pledges from all boycott participants.
• Canada exports nearly two-thirds of its seafood to the U.S. producing $2.5 billion annually for the Canadian economy, compared to about $12 million generated in 2007 by the commercial seal kill.
• Well over 95 percent of the seals slaughtered each year in the commercial seal kill are under three months of age. The majority are under a month of age. Many have not yet eaten their first solid meal or learned to swim properly when they are killed.

For more information about the campaign to save Canadian seals, please visit humanesociety.org/protectseals.

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.