Following the devastating death of Freya in Norway last week, BDMLR and our friends at Seal Rescue Ireland and the Seal Research Trust have put together an open letter to the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries asking critical key questions of the process that led to her shocking and untimely demise.
We would like answers as to why more could not be done, what barriers prevented non-lethal methods from being used to keep her safe and more to understand why this happened the way it did. Many other organisations are still being added to the list of signatories on the letter, including Ecomare, Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen, Yorkshire Seal Group, Friends of Horsey Seals and The Seal Project.
There is a lot to learn from this incident and having these answers we hope will ensure that incidents like this are not repeated in the future and animals such as Freya are allowed more opportunities to be protected.
Alongside the open letter (which you can read here), we have also launched a petition for people to support this effort and continue to illustrate the strength of feeling that people around the world feel about Freya’s treatment. You can sign and share the petition on the link here.
Photo: Trond Reigar Teigan.