Nearly every year, during the months of July and August, a few hundred pilot whales are brutally slaughtered for their meat by the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands (part of the kingdom of Denmark).
This so called 'tradition' has been going on in Denmark for more than 1,200 years and Faroese people see this cruel murder as a big part of their culture. The Faroese Government say's that killing methods used in the hunt, ie.the severing of the whale's spinal cord and carotid arteries by kinfe cuts to the animals neck is actually humane. The fact is that, NO it is NOT humane.
Despite their common name Pilot whales are dolphins. Growing to a length of 4-6 metres (13 to 20 ft), they are distinguised by their round, bulging foreheads, short snouts and their slender pointed flippers.
When a pod of Pilot whales are sighted near the islands or the channels between them, the men of the local district (only men take part in hunt), take to their boats to intercept the animals, forming a huge semicircle between them and the open sea. By making loud noises that frighten the whales, the hunters gradually herd them into a bay or fjord, where by the time they are absulotely exhausted, beach themselves, or are trapped in the shallow water. There they are barbarically slaughterd with traditional kinves whose blades are usually 16 to 19 cm long. Usually, two deep cuts are made on either side of the animals neck, just behind the blow hole, causing the head to drop forward; a third cut is then made through the middle of the neck down to the carotid arteries and spinal cord, which are severed. After a period of violent thrashing, the animal is paralyzed and loses consciousness and dies of blood loss in most cases. The animal also usually has a thick long metal rope pole shuved down its blow hole. All of this, in the name of 'tradition'.
So, if you would like to end this cruel slaughter, then please sign this petition.
