Taiji Dolphin slaughter still going strong . How you can help (please help)
grooveme
Posts: 353
http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/what-you-can-do.html
For those who might be unaware, 20,000 dolphins and small whales are still being viciously and inhumanely slaughtered every year in a small cove off the coast of Japan, as exposed in the movie "the Cove". Whole families of dolphins are driven into the cove. They remain there for days, trapped, without food. A few are separated, including juveniles from their mothers, for sale to dolphinariums /aquariums /swim with dolphin programs. Many are killed, and I am sorry to be graphic, but the method of killing is stabbing them repeatedly in the spine to paralyze them, then drowning them or bleeding them out. Witnesses report that it often takes up to 30 minutes for them to die.The others witness this before their own turn. I have seen pictures, can't stand to watch a video, and it is heartbreaking to see the doplhin trapped and looking for escape or some pity from the fisherman, when there is none. Some are released, traumatized, and often washing up on shore, dead, not long after.
This year a young albino calf was caught, separated from her mother (who reportedly then went under the water and was not seen again), and taken to a small pool in the Taiji whale museum, where she swims in a small circle at the top of the water with her eyes half closed, according to witnesses who were able to see her. Pictures show her having turned mostly pink, presumably from sunburn.
The albino juvenile has brought international attention to the matter, and numerous folks, including Ambassador to China, Caroline Kennedy and members of the Japanese press are speaking out against it. Apparently this method of slaughter would be illegal for any other type of animal in Japan, according to their own laws. This is NOT a cultural tradition, with the current drive hunts only in existence since 1969. Also, the dolphin meat is highly contaminated with mercury, unsafe to eat
If you feel so moved, please write to The Japanese ambassador, Prime minister and Cabinet in opposition to this slaughter. I did, and expressed my commitment to boycott Japanese products (even selling my Prius and buying no more Japanese cars until this is stopped) and tourism.
Also, if you want to help, refuse to attend dolphins shows and exhibits, the economic driving force behind these hunts (a dolphin sells for up to $150k). And spread the word.
India this year declared cetaceans as "nonhuman persons" and forbade their slaughter or captivity, and the EU and some European nations are considering the same, recognizing the dolphins' self-awareness, high intelligence, and complex societal structure and language. At a minimum, in my opinion, these harmless and friendly beings should not be sadistically slaughtered.
Thanks for your attention.
For those who might be unaware, 20,000 dolphins and small whales are still being viciously and inhumanely slaughtered every year in a small cove off the coast of Japan, as exposed in the movie "the Cove". Whole families of dolphins are driven into the cove. They remain there for days, trapped, without food. A few are separated, including juveniles from their mothers, for sale to dolphinariums /aquariums /swim with dolphin programs. Many are killed, and I am sorry to be graphic, but the method of killing is stabbing them repeatedly in the spine to paralyze them, then drowning them or bleeding them out. Witnesses report that it often takes up to 30 minutes for them to die.The others witness this before their own turn. I have seen pictures, can't stand to watch a video, and it is heartbreaking to see the doplhin trapped and looking for escape or some pity from the fisherman, when there is none. Some are released, traumatized, and often washing up on shore, dead, not long after.
This year a young albino calf was caught, separated from her mother (who reportedly then went under the water and was not seen again), and taken to a small pool in the Taiji whale museum, where she swims in a small circle at the top of the water with her eyes half closed, according to witnesses who were able to see her. Pictures show her having turned mostly pink, presumably from sunburn.
The albino juvenile has brought international attention to the matter, and numerous folks, including Ambassador to China, Caroline Kennedy and members of the Japanese press are speaking out against it. Apparently this method of slaughter would be illegal for any other type of animal in Japan, according to their own laws. This is NOT a cultural tradition, with the current drive hunts only in existence since 1969. Also, the dolphin meat is highly contaminated with mercury, unsafe to eat
If you feel so moved, please write to The Japanese ambassador, Prime minister and Cabinet in opposition to this slaughter. I did, and expressed my commitment to boycott Japanese products (even selling my Prius and buying no more Japanese cars until this is stopped) and tourism.
Also, if you want to help, refuse to attend dolphins shows and exhibits, the economic driving force behind these hunts (a dolphin sells for up to $150k). And spread the word.
India this year declared cetaceans as "nonhuman persons" and forbade their slaughter or captivity, and the EU and some European nations are considering the same, recognizing the dolphins' self-awareness, high intelligence, and complex societal structure and language. At a minimum, in my opinion, these harmless and friendly beings should not be sadistically slaughtered.
Thanks for your attention.
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Comments
And, as some have illustrated, in my part of the world, we are not much better with our industrial treatment of animals we raise for food. A chicken isn't as magical or beautiful as a dolphin... but tell that to the chicken and see if it cares.
I contribute to the inhumane treatment of animals with my consumption habits. I am aware and, feebly, I try to buy free range eggs, poultry, beef and wild salmon... but I am part of the mechanism that allows for the brutality food animals face on a grand scale.
I guess what I am saying is that as mortified and enraged as I become for the dolphins, it's tough for me to cast judgement on others when I live in a glass house.
but this slaughter is wrong on so many fronts ... from the mass suffering; the lack of necessity of it (it's not like they need the food nor should they eat it) ... but similar to the occupied territories ... the only people that can stop this brutality are the japanese ...
Trust me... I hear you.
I do think there is a difference in a dolphin, higher primates, and humans in that we are self aware, likely as a function of higher intelligence. This makes the slaughter and mistreatment worse to me, and closer in my mind to humans suffering in many parts of the world. Dolphins, like us and higher primates, recognize their image in a mirror, equated with having a sense of self. They have societies and complex language. Just because we don't understand them doesn't mean that they don't have a right to exist without our interference. Domestic animals are dependent on us, and in a somewhat different category
This has been explored in science fiction - if an alien race has vastly superior intelligence, they might look at us as we look at rats, and indiscriminately slaughter us without a second thought. Doesn't make it right.
We can choose a line where we can begin feel 'intensely remorseful' for our mistreatment of animals, but that line is arbitrary in the bigger picture regardless of the distinction we can draw between species. "I feel badly for the treatment of dolphins, but not so much for chickens!" doesn't cut it for a chicken who's life is as precious to it as ours is to us.
"Again, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. The dolphin slaughter pisses me off- big time.
We can choose a line where we can begin feel 'intensely remorseful' for our mistreatment of animals, but that line is arbitrary in the bigger picture regardless of the distinction we can draw between species. "I feel badly for the treatment of dolphins, but not so much for chickens!" doesn't cut it for a chicken who's life is as precious to it as ours is to us. "
I agree with you. I see this type of disconnect in my friends who go ballistic over mistreatment of dogs and cats, but have no interest in the billions of farm animals raised and slaughtered in mostly inhumane fashion. And yes, a chicken's life is a precious to it as mine is to me, so I don't eat them or kill them, anymore than I would eat my parrot.
Endangered species, higher primates, and cetaceans I put in a category closer to humans in terms of what protections they warrant. But that's just me. At any rate, they should be free from torture, which is happening in Japan.
There are so many great aspects to the Japanese culture- I learned a lot from my girl friend in high school and other Japanese friends I've had over the years but this is definitely one of those things that cannot be tolerated, justified or excused. The Japanese people must speak out againt the brutality and recognize the wrong in all this-- but as Thirty Bills said so well, we all need to cop to our shit and change our ways.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of American celebrities and other activists want President Barack Obama to refuse to sign an international trade agreement until Japan bans the capture and slaughter of dolphins in the fishing town of Taiji.
Backing the effort are Oscar-winning performers Sean Penn, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Charlize Theron as well as TV stars Ellen DeGeneres and William Shatner, and many others.
The Oscar-winning 2009 documentary "The Cove" chronicled the dolphin roundup in Taiji and helped spark protests over the annual hunt and ensuing slaughter. Japanese law allows a hunting season for dolphins, and fishermen defend it as a tradition.
In a letter dated Wednesday that included dozens of names, hip-hop producer Russell Simmons asked the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, to urge Obama not to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, until Japan bans the hunt. Kennedy recently tweeted that she was deeply concerned about the dolphin hunt, which has drawn widespread news coverage.
Simmons' letter said those signing don't oppose the TPP but seek to make stopping the dolphin hunt a key factor in negotiations. The free trade agreement is being negotiated by 12 nations that account for about 40 percent of global gross domestic product.
The letter said that corporations have spent the past two years crafting language in the TPP "to serve their interests."
"Should human compassion not be afforded the same privilege as business interests?" the letter stated. It added: "The world is looking to you, Ambassador Kennedy, and to our government to send a clear message to Japan that this atrocity must be banned now."
After Kennedy's tweet, a State Department spokeswoman told reporters that the U.S. was "concerned with both the sustainability and the humaneness of the Japanese dolphin hunts."
Simmons said more than 600 dolphins have been slaughtered since the hunting season began Sept. 1. Anti-hunt activists reported that dozens of fishermen helped to herd about 250 dolphins into a cove one day last month. Of those, about 40 were eventually killed for their meat. At least 50 others were kept alive for sale to aquariums and others, and the remaining dolphins were released.
I have seen The Cove. As much as I played devil's advocate earlier in the thread, I truly believe you have to be a cold and callous person to slaughter such an animal as the Japanese depicted in the film do. You also have to be somewhat cold and callous to be indifferent to their plight.
A group of celebrities that includes Sean Penn and Gwyneth Paltrow wrote a letter addressing the brutal dolphin slaughter currently happening in Taiji -- they urged Obama not to sign a trade agreement until the hunt is banned. It was written by producer and activist Russell Simmons, and signed by Cher, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Hudson, Charlize Theron, Ellen DeGeneres and William Shatner, among others. The letter, which can be found in its entirety here, reads:
We, the undersigned, ask you to personally deliver this petition to President Barack Obama urging him to NOT sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until Japan bans the slaughter and capture of Dolphins in Taiji.
We, the undersigned, are not using this petition to assert a position in regards to the TPP, rather we are underscoring that your influential voice in defense of the dolphins of Japan is instrumental in expressing to the White House the importance of making their slaughter and captive trade a key factor in the negotiations ahead. Corporations have spent the past two years marking-up the language of the TPP to serve their interests, should human compassion not be afforded the same privilege as business interests? Although we understand that the negotiations have been quite lengthy, at this point, we feel the only way to end these heinous crimes against dolphins migrating through Japan’s waters is to inject our position into the current conversation regarding the trade agreement.
A White House petition has also been started. Maybe international pressure will make a difference
Maybe things will change!