World Wildlife Fund Misleads Donors

What they tell potential donors: if you love animals, give us money!

• "Donate Now to Save Wildlife" (1)
• "Reach New Heights Saving Wildlife" (1)
• "Do you love wild animals? If you do, you won't want to miss WWF's newest television special" (2)
• "Join WWF's Wildlife Rescue Team" (3)
• "by joining WWF's Wildlife Rescue Team, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping to secure a better future for all life on earth. Whether it's a peregrine falcon soaring overhead or a sea otter playing under the waves of the ocean; a Peary caribou roaming Canada's North or a monarch butterfly in your backyard; you will be making a difference for wildlife everywhere." (3)
• "The animals can't thank you, but we will." (3) (Implying that the animals will be thankful if you donate.)

(emphasis added)

The World Wildlife Fund of Canada, knowing that many Canadians are animal lovers, cleverly promotes themselves as an organization that saves animals' lives. Using appealing pictures of animals, and urging people to help save them, the World Wildlife Fund of Canada has convinced over 50,000 Canadians (4) to donate--over $15 million in 2001! (6) They are a registered as a charity under the "Animal Protection" category.(5)

The truth is, they are not an animal protection organization--they believe in protecting animals only so that they will be available for people to kill now and in the future.

The truth: WWF supports hunting, sealing, and whaling

Most people would agree, animal protection organizations should protect animals from people who want to kill them. But WWF supports hunting, as long as it doesn't endanger a species. In their own words (emphasis added):

• "WWF is not an animal welfare organization. We support the hunting and consumption of wild animals provided the harvesting does not threaten the long-term survival of wildlife populations. WWF has never opposed a sustainable seal hunt in northern or eastern Canada." (8)
• "WWF-Canada actively supports the sustainable hunting of seals by Inuit. Because welfare arguments are clearly and understandably part of the discussion, we emphasize that the Inuit hunt only adult seals." (7) (Do they think that adult seals suffer less than baby seals?)
• "WWF supports subsistence harvesting of bowhead whales" (8)

So why is WWF Canada listed as an animal protection charity with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency if they are not an animal protection organization? The WWF says they "secure a better future for all life on earth" (3) --does that include the animals killed in sustainable hunts?

Our demands:

Freedom for Animals demands that the World Wildlife Fund of Canada adopt policies and practices consistent with an animal protection organization: i.e., they should be protecting animals from people who want to kill them, such as hunters.

If the World Wildlife Fund is not interested in protecting animals, they should revise their promotional literature to indicate clearly that they do not care about protecting "all life on earth", they do not rescue wildlife when hunters are after them, and they are not an animal protection organization. They should also not be registered as an animal protection charity with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

Take action

Tell WWF-Canada what you think right now! gifts@wwfcanada.org (their email for concerns about membership and donations), panda@wwfcanada.org (their email for concerns about their "conservation" programs), WWF Canada, 245 Eglinton Ave. East, Suite 410, Toronto, ON M4P 3J1. 1-800-26-PANDA. Fax: 416-489-8055.

Tell Canada Customs and Revenue Agency WWF-Canada should not be registered as an animal protection charity. Write to: Charities Directorate, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Ottawa ON K1A 0L5.

Sources:

1. WWF Canada homepage http://www.wwfcanada.org/
2. WWF Canada: TV Listings webpage http://www.wwfcanada.org/Media/TVListings/default.asp
3. WWF Canada: Wildlife Rescue Team webpage http://www.wwfcanada.org/en/donate/dsw_rescue.asp
4. WWF Canada: About Us webpage http://www.wwfcanada.org/en/about/
5. Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Canadian Registered Charities – Detail Page, World Wildlife Fund http://care-ceob.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/ha.srch.tierp/sec/SrchInput03Render-e?bn=119304954RR0001
6. WWF Canada Annual Report 2001 http://www.wwfcanada.org/en/res_links/pdf/annualreport2001.pdf
7. Letter from Laura Crickett, WWF Canada, reproduced here.
8. World Wildlife Fund Nunavut webpage http://www.wwfcanada.org/satellite/nunavut/page1_eng.html