September 2005 - Protest Japanese dolphin slaughter
September 2005
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| Copyright: Sea Shepherd Society |
Dolphin advocates around the world are preparing to stage an international day of protest against Japan's bloody “drive fisheries”. During this annual hunt, fishermen in motorboats encircle pods of dolphins and chase them to shore. Once the dolphins are beached, the fisherman slaughter them with knives and spears. This hunting method is particularly cruel and inhumane and benefits only a handful of fisherman.
To find a protest location near you, click here.
The international day of action will be held at Japanese Embassies around the globe on Saturday, October 8th. The more people who turn out the better so please consider joining in a protest near you. In addition, please write to Japan's Prime Minister and let him know that the drive fisheries are hurting Japan's reputation internationally. (Sample letter below.)
During the annual hunt, a few “lucky” dolphins are set aside for the captivity industry while the rest are stabbed, their throats cut on the spot, before being loaded onto trucks, sometimes still conscious, to be processed into meat and fertilizer.
Though the majority of the dolphins are slaughtered for meat, it is the young dolphins “saved” for the captive industry that are the primary motivation for the hunts. Many fisherman have admitted that they would not continue the drive fisheries if it were not for the high prices offered by the captivity industry for wild dolphins.
Let the Japanese government know that you object to the drive fisheries because:
-Killing methods are inhumane
-Captured dolphins face lives of depravation in captivity
Show your support for dolphins by participating in a protest event near you on October 8th, and by emailing or faxing your protest letter in Japanese today. Simply copy and paste the Japanese letter in the PDF below into an email or document for faxing/mailing to the Prime Minister.
To find a protest location near you, click here.
Letter in Japanese to be sent to the Prime Minister:
**To copy the text from the PDF simply right click over the text and choose Select All. Once the text is highlighted, right click again and choose Copy then paste it into an email or Word document.
Protest letter to Prime Minister in Japanese (PDF)
Send your letter to:
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
Prime Minister's Office
1-6-1 Nagatacho
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8914, Japan
Fax: 81-3-3581-3883
Email: kanteihp-info@cas.go.jp or send a comment at http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment.html
(English translation provided for reference only, please send Japanese letter to the Prime Minister )
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to you to appeal for your immediate assistance to end the annual drive fisheries, which take place in Taiji, Japan.
As I am sure you are aware, hundreds of dolphins and small whales are brutally killed for their meat or are taken alive for sale to swim-with-dolphin programs each year in the hunts. The extreme cruelty of the drive fisheries, coupled with the intelligent and social nature of their prey, makes these operations all the more unacceptable. Further, given the fact that only a miniscule minority of citizens actually participates in the hunts and that dolphin meat is considered unhealthy and is not consumed by large segments of the population, I would consider that the benefits of ending the hunts, especially in terms of human health and positive attention you would receive from the Japanese public and compassionate people around the world, would far outweigh any associated costs.
Once again, I respectfully urge you to take immediate action to avert the upcoming drive fisheries and to end the killing of the dolphins and small whales by working to ban the hunt altogether.
Sincerely,
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