ANIMAL FORUM

Dolphin massacre in Japan - video
http://www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin

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----- Original Message -----
From: DawnWatch
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 3:08 AM
Subject: [VeganWay] DawnWatch: Shocking dolphin slaughter on prime
time television -- November 2007


The annual dolphin slaughter has been on again in Taiji, Japan, over the last
few
weeks. Former Flipper trainer turned dolphin advocate, Ric OBarry, and other
wonderful activists have been at the killing coves documenting the horror and
trying to get the world to take notice. They have had more luck than usual this
year as they were joined by Heroes star Hayden Panettierre, and celebrities
make
the US media take notice.

But the coverage hasnt been fluff. Even the coverage on E, which did not show
graphic footage, is worth checking out at http://tinyurl.com/yqywb2 , as there
is
a place to leave comments. The more positive feedback for attention to animal
issues that the segment gets, the better.

Sky News in the UK shared shocking footage. You can watch the segment on line
at http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1291049,00.html
and send a letter to the editor at
http://www.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/feedback

In the US, the most impressive coverage I saw was on The Insider. As The
Insider
is a celebrity magazine show, it focused on Haydens participation, but it also
shared
what might be the most gruesome animal cruelty footage I have ever seen on
prime
time television. Though I could not find anywhere on the site to send thanks to
the
show, surely somebody counts the number of web hits each story gets, so just
taking a look at it on line will help the animals. Forwarding the link will
help them
more. Youll find it on line at
http://www.theinsideronline.com/news/2007/11/13823/

Most importantly, The Insider points us to http://www.savejapandolphins.org/

From that website you can:

-- Send a message to the International Marine Animal Trainers Association to
stop doing business with the Taiji dolphin killers

-- Send a message to members of the Japanese government - National, regional,
and local, urging immediate cessation of the drive fishery and immediately
prohibition of the sale of heavily contaminated dolphin meat

And
--- Donate to help keep the Action Team on the ground in Taiji to monitor,
witness, investigate, educate, and end the dolphin slaughter:

Please go to www.savejapandolphins.org and act now.

If you see the story in your local paper, please send a letter to the editor
appreciative of the animal coverage. You may also wish to take the opportunity
to call attention to the way some animals are treated closer to home. (Please
go
to http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp if you know little about our local
horrors.)

Yours and the animals,
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the
media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You
can learn
more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may
forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in
the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards
DawnWatch
alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is
free.)

Each year from October through March, in small towns across Japan,
thousands of dolphins and small whales are confined and brutally killed.
These slaughters take place in fishing towns including Taiji, Iki, Ito,
Futo and Izu. During those months, Japanese fishermen herd whole
families and pods of dolphins, porpoises and small whales into shallow
bays and mercilessly hack them to death. Most of these small cetaceans
are sold as meat in restaurants and stores, while some are destined for a
life in captivity.

Please send the below letter to the Prime Minister of Japan to ask him
to stop the killing of dolphins and small whales. Simply type in your
contact information and press the Send Message button.

Thank you for your efforts to help save the dolphins and whales!

Send a protest letter:

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
1-6-1 Nagata-cho
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8968 JAPAN

Dear Prime Minister Fukuda,

I am outraged by the annual brutal slaughter of dolphins and whales
that takes place in Japan. The images of bloody red water clearly
show the world that Japan has little respect for the state of the worlds
oceans and for the conservation of the marine resources it claims to
support.

Many scientific studies show that the oceans are in decline. We must
take whatever actions are necessary to stop their over-exploitation and
to protect the creatures that live in them. These dolphins do not belong
to Japan. The status of the species of dolphins and whales that you kill
are either endangered, threatened, or unknown. It is an unthinkable waste t
hat they will likely end up as a meat product or deceptively sold as whale
meat, polluted with toxic levels of mercury and cadmium, killing people
that eat it. It is tragic and unacceptable that the remaining dolphins that
are not killed will end up destined for death in an aquarium, water park,
or swim with dolphins program.

In addition, the methods used to kill these animals are cruel. Corralling
the dolphins into bays, then making them suffer a long and painful
death by spears, hooks, and drowning is an inhumane way of fishing.
This action is disgraceful and has caused much disappointment in the
international community.

We demand that Japan permanently and immediately renounce and
stop this slaughter. We will work diligently to bring this issue to
international light until you have ceased your reprehensible violence.

Sincerely,

http://seashepherd.org/taiji/taiji take action letter 01.html