Taiji Police, Protect Sea Shepherd and Volunteers From Threats of Violence
- by: Susan V
- recipient: Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture (Japan) Police
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says it believes there is an “inextricable link between the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji and the international captive cetacean industry." But the organization also says its efforts to bring awareness to this brutality are being threatened.
As many now know, largely because of Sea Shepherd’s work, every year dolphins are corralled into the Taiji Cove in Japan, disoriented by noises making it hard for them to escape. For those that are killed, the slaughter is merciless. But these dolphins are not hunted only for meat. SSCS says the demand for dolphin meat brings only about $600 US dollars, while a captive dolphin sells for as much as $250,000.
SSCS normally maintains its presence in the Taiji area during the six-month hunting season from September to March. However this season SSCS noted in its October 28 news that it had received a warning ‘from a credible source” of threats from Japanese nationalists opposed to its work. Although the organization says it will not be deterred from its efforts and will remain in the area throughout the hunting season, it is taking the threats seriously, especially because volunteers around the world now join in the vigil.
Even though SSCS has a controversial history, without its work the Taiji slaughters might never have been so widely exposed, and there is no reason volunteers in Taiji should face threats of violence for doing this important work to protect cetaceans.
Sign this petition to insist Japanese authorities work diligently to protect members of Sea Shepherd and their volunteers keeping vigil during this year’s hunting season at Taiji Cove.
To Taiji Police.
Although we are aware of the controversy over some of Sea Shepherd’s work, this does not justify the alleged threats of violence towards members of the organization.
According to SSCS’s Campaign Coordinator David Hance, his organization has “notified the appropriate authorities” and is “taking the necessary steps to protect [its] volunteers,” Hance adds that in its 40-year history, “Sea Shepherd’s non-violent crew has never caused harm to anyone. It is our opponents who kill marine wildlife and plunder the oceans – and the supporters of this mindless and cruel destruction – who have repeatedly shown violence and disregard for life, both human and non-human.”
Furthermore, Save Japan’s Dolphins has confirmed that more and more Taiji dophins and whales are being hunted to send to aquariums in China and the Middle East. SJD says ”Taiji has become a major source of captive dolphins for aquariums all over the world, and instead of just a handful of dolphins being sold, now Taiji is selling hundreds of dolphins each year.”
Just as the United States is beginning to ban the cruel captivity and exploitation of these intelligent creatures, Taiji is promoting this cruelty in other parts of the world. Furthermore, a Wikipedia report says Taiji fishermen’s method of killing the cetaceans, even though the method has been changed, is so painful "This killing method….would not be tolerated or permitted in any regulated slaughterhouse process in the developed world,” according to “Several veterinarians and behavioral scientists" whot the report said “evaluated the current Taiji Japanese killing method."
Tragically, notes Oceanic Preservation Society, “Small cetaceans, namely dolphins, are not protected by the International Whaling Commission (IWC)."
The planet and these intelligent creatures need Sea Sherpherd and its volunteers to expose this cruelty, and they need your protection.
We urge authorities to work diligently to protect SSCS members and the volunteers that come from around the world to join SSCS in its vigil during the Taiji hunting season.
Thanks for you time.
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