MANY of your readers will be unaware that, right now on the ice floes of Canada, hundreds of thousands of baby seals are being cruelly clubbed and killed.

Many will remember the high-profile campaigns in the 1970s and 80s that lead effectively to a ban on the killing of baby seals. But this applied only to harp seals known as "whitecoats" and hooded seals known an "bluebacks".

Harp seals shed their "white coats" at only 10 or 12 days old and Canadians are now targeting these animals.

This year's hunt will be the largest in 400 years. At least 350,000 baby seals will be clubbed on the ice or shot in the water.

Many will be skinned alive and the hunters pay scant regard to laws governing the slaughter - safe in the knowledge that the Canadian Government ignores evidence of breaches of the regulations.

The Canadian Government subsidies the hunt, so anyone visiting Canada is unwittingly contributing to it. Please register your disgust by pledging to boycott Canada. Easy ways to help can be found at www.boycott-canada.com or by calling 0115 952 5440.

NICKI BROOKS,

Director, Respect of Animals.