Following an anti-sealing activist’s attack on the Hon. Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Senator Hervieux-Payette spoke out in support of the Minister’s efforts on behalf of the sealing industry and condemned the actions of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The Minister was delivering a speech in Ontario on January 25 when an activist hit her in the face with a tofu cream pie.
PETA claimed responsibility for the incident. The organization promotes a vegetarian society and is well known for its stance against the fisheries and the seal hunt. PETA stated in a news release that this action was part of its campaign to “stop the government” from supporting the seal hunt.
“The vegetarian lobbies have turned into extremists. They do not respect our democratic institutions and use savage tactics to achieve their goals, which greatly discredits their cause,” said Senator Hervieux-Payette.
“I am completely convinced that this attack, which PETA claims responsibility for, is simply fund-raising propaganda,” she said, alluding to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)—another anti-sealing organization—which is using the earthquake in Haiti to raise funds, supposedly to rescue the island’s animals.
