If I were to be any animal in the animal kingdom, I would undoubtedly be a dolphin. Think about it; you're still a mammal, you live in the ocean, you eat and play in the waves all day, sharks are your bitch, and best of all, you're the only other species besides humans that has sex for pleasure...SCORE. To top it all off, dolphins are one of the smartest creatures in the ocean.
These loving creatures have been a large part of our lives. Dolphins swim with humans, they perform tricks at dolphin centers, they interact with children in dolphin programs, they appear as lead roles in television (think Flipper), and have even been used by humans to detect sea mines during times of war.
Then please let me know why humans would do this...
In the small fishing town of Taiji, Japan, there is a dolphin massacre taking place. They are not killing these animals for food. They are killing them because their diets consist of the same fish that the Japanese catch and sell to the markets. This massacre is cruel, unnecessary, and of epic proportions. Worst of all, the government of Taiji is protecting this ritual, and the mercury laden dolphin meat is finding its way into the lunches of Japanese school systems.
This is sickening, and something must be done.
This blog is here to create awareness and motivate global citizens to put pressure on the Japanese government to end this massacre. Throughout this blog, I will be bringing up specific issues regarding the massacre and its impact on the citizens of Japan, the dolphin population, and global treaties.
The man who we are targeting is the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe. Through an enormous online petition, we seek to outlaw the killing of dolphins, and as a first step, to require the Japanese government to put warning labels on dolphin meat, informing Japanese citizens of the dangerous levels of mercury that the meat contains.
The man who we are targeting is the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe. Through an enormous online petition, we seek to outlaw the killing of dolphins, and as a first step, to require the Japanese government to put warning labels on dolphin meat, informing Japanese citizens of the dangerous levels of mercury that the meat contains.
5 comments:
Ryan, I'm not quite sure what to say yet, seeing as how I am in a slight state of shock after watching the youtube video. I was completely unaware of the specifics regardng this issue until I read your post and am extremely greatful to have been enlightened from it. Thanks
Oh, and was wonering if any of this meat was being exported to the US?
Ryan -
I love dolphins as much as the next guy and I had a major crush on that girl from Flipper for the majority of the first half of my life.
That being said, and I'm not trying to get all PETA on you but we massacre pigs, fish, cows and other animals all day every day. And then eat them at Outback Stakhouse. What is right and what is wrong?
@Jack,
What's right and what's wrong? That is a great question, but it's highly subjective.
However, let me just say this: Although we may kill pigs, fish, cows, and other animals, we do so in a fairly humane manner. Most importantly though, we eat these animals. They are a food source.
The same cannot be said about the dolphins. The Japanese are killing these peaceful creatures because they are competing over the same food source. The dolphins need to eat too, but the fishermen see this as a hindrance to their catches. This is a MASSACRE.
I will get more into depth about the specifics of the issue in my later posts, but for now, just know that this is an OUTRAGE.
Hey Ryan - great start btw.
I find myself pretty conflicted after watching that video - it is somewhat propaganda-ish, but the facts speak for themselves.
I'm tempted to bring up the role of cultural subjectivity; does this "massacre" mean more, from fact - not just perspective, to the Japanese people? Has this event occurred for a long time?
I mention this because the most similar event that I can think of in my mind comes from the constant battle between Greenpeace and Native American groups over the hunting for whales.
The details may be bloody, but, as an outsider, who's to say what's right?
I agree with Jack on this one. Don't get me wrong, the dolphin massacre is terrible and needs to be stopped. But you can't say that slaughterhouses aren't means for the massacring of cows, pigs, chickens, etc. Most of the time, they don't kill the animals in a human way and the animals also don't have suitable living conditions. Who's to say that breeding cows to kill and eat isn't on the same level as the dolphin massacre in Japan?
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