Day of Protest to Stop Dolphin Slaughter

[Guest guest]

Dear Animal Loving Friend,

 

I'd like to share with you this information from Richard O'Barry,

world famous as the former trainer of the movie dolphin, Flipper,

and for years as a steadfast activist on behalf of the dolphins and

whales.

 

From my connection and communication with the dolphins and whales, I

know that they are our evolutionary leaders and deeply care for us

and about our enlightenment. We owe them a great deal of respect and

care for them and their (our) oceanic environment as elders and

fellow beings. In caring for them, we care for ourselves and all

life on Earth.

 

Here is one important focused way we can assist our cetacean

friends. I urge you to read and act to help the dolphins in Taiji,

Japan.

 

The last paragraphs are about a dolphin/ocean/environmental

activist, Ben White, who recently passed on, and what a difference

one person can make by showing up.

 

Thank you for listening. Please pass the word on about this way to

help our dolphin friends.

 

With respect and love,

 

Penelope Smith

___________________

__________________

 

Dear Penelope,

 

Yes please do network this information in your newsletter. We need

everyone to show up.

 

We both know a great many people who say that they love dolphins.

Now's the time to stand up and be counted. If everyone who said that

they love dolphins would show up on October 8th at noon in front of

the Japanese embassy, the annual dolphin slaughter would end.

 

Love and Light, Ric

www.savetaijidolphins.org

 

 

International Day of Protest Against the Japanese Dolphin Slaughter

 

 

As most of you know, the largest slaughter of dolphins and other

small whales takes place in Japan every single year. Why don't we

get ourselves organized and protest the massacres every year before

the killing season starts?

 

The so-called drive fishery in Japan will kill about 20,000 dolphins

and other whales from September through April in the most brutal way

imaginable. We can actually do something about this. We can let the

Japanese government know that these crimes against nature are

unacceptable to the rest of the world. We can speak out against this

atrocity loudly and clearly.

 

Our plan is to organize an international day of protest in several

cities around the world before the dolphin massacres begin. If we

show up in huge numbers, we will be heard in Tokyo. The goal is to

make this the biggest global protest against the drive fishery in

history.

 

We are hoping that everyone who is opposed to the annual dolphin

slaughter is willing to show up and demonstrate. We need your help

in making the international day of protest successful.

 

Please note that this will be an all-inclusive event. In other

words, the protest will not take place under the umbrella of any one

group. The event will be carried out by all of us, on a equal basis.

Each group represents itself and will contact the media in their

city with their own press release. All participating groups can be

listed in the press release in alphabetical order.

 

Our Japanese colleagues tell us that outside pressure can stop the

annual dolphin slaughter. So why not give the Japanese decision-

makers some serious, outside international media pressure?

 

The date of the protest will probably be in late September, just

before the slaughter starts in Taiji. (Exact date later announced as

October 8.)

 

We have to get organized early, so here is what we need to know: How

many groups are willing to participate in organizing this event? We

need as many organizations and individuals as possible to show up in

front of the Japanese Embassies in Paris, London, Brussels, New

York, San Francisco, Washington DC and other locations. (The more,

the better.)

 

As a first step, we are trying to identify what kind of cooperation

we can get from the international animal welfare community. If you

and/or your organization is willing to participate in this important

global event, please contact me. I'm willing to help coordinate

things.

 

We have some specific ideas as to how to make this a success. We

will share these ideas later. And please remember: The goal is to

make this event huge, effective and memorable.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Here's a list of cities that will participate in the International

Day of Protest Against the Japanese Dolphin Slaughter. This is only

a partial list, as others are expected to sign on later.

 

We don't want to look weak and disorganized, so we need many more

participants. If we don't have a strong presence in a particular

city, that city will have to be eliminated. Those demonstrators will

hopefully attend the protest in another well-attended location. The

Japanese government must not get the impression that we are just a

handful of the usual protesters. We are going to get one chance

(this year) to do this, so we need to do it right or not at all.

 

Remember, the problem is in Taiji, but the solution is in Tokyo. We

want to send the message to the decision makers in Tokyo that the

brutal dolphin slaughter is not acceptable to the rest of the world

and that the dolphin slaughter (and related captures) must be

abolished immediately. In other words, we need to stop the

permitting process. The dolphin hunters already told us that if they

didn't get a permit from Tokyo, they would stop the killing

immediately.

 

To pull this off, we need TENS OF THOUSANDS of non- violent,

peaceful protesters in front of Japanese embassies around the world.

We need the MEMBERSHIP of all our various groups to show up, not

just a few token staff members and volunteers. We have until

September to educate our members as to why it's so important for

them to show up and protest the largest slaughter of dolphins in the

world.

 

WE CAN DO THIS.

_______

 

SAVE THE DOLPHINS: BOYCOTT JAPAN?

 

By Ric O'Barry, One Voice-France

 

We have received a great deal of international correspondence lately

suggesting that we " Boycott Japan " as a strategy to solve the drive

fisheries problem. Although we are not telling other NGOs what their

strategy should be, I wanted to clarify that we think a boycott of

Japan is a big mistake. Having been to Japan and witnessed the

dolphin slaughter up-close and personal, we can report with absolute

certainty that the Japanese people are not guilty of these crimes

against nature. From what we saw, 26 whalers in 13 boats drive the

dolphins into a cove and slaughter them. The vast majority of the

people in Taiji and surrounding villages are exceptionally friendly,

and they should not be targeted and punished for something they are

not guilty of.

 

I spent most of 1975-76 traveling from Coconut Grove, Florida, to

several cities in the United States and eventually Japan with scores

of Japanese and American musicians/environmentalists such as Fred

Neil, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Shigado Izumia, Warren Zevon,

Harry Hossano, John Sebastian, Governor Jerry Brown, Paul Winter

Consort and a great many other concerned artists. We were known

as " The Rolling Coconut Review, " and we were trying to put a stop to

the BOYCOTT JAPAN, SAVE THE WHALES campaign. Eventually we

succeeded. The boycott was the chosen strategy of most of the well-

funded US animal welfare/environmental groups who pooled their money

and took out full page advertisements in the New York Times,

Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, etc. to get their boycott

message out to the American public. This misguided campaign did not

save any whales. However, as a direct result of the BOYCOTT JAPAN

campaign, Japanese/American children were beaten up on the

playgrounds of the USA and called " Jap whale killers. " (Jap is a

derogatory term) Surely, this is not a situation that we would want

to create once again.

 

The Japanese people don't need a boycott. They need access to the

information that we take for granted. If they knew the truth about

the dolphin slaughter, they would help us stop it. The fishermen who

hunt and kill dolphins in Taiji agree with us. They revealed this

during a meeting we had with them at Taiji City Hall. When they

asked us why we had come to Taiji, we told them we wanted to

document the methods used to conduct the dolphin massacres and let

the Japanese people know the truth about this hunt. The fishermen's

reply was: " The Japanese people have no right to know about the

dolphin slaughter. It is none of their business. "

 

 

 

But the Japanese people have every right to know about the dolphin

massacres that are carried out in their own country, and we will

continue to travel to these remote fishing villages to document what

is going on. The fishermen in Taiji spend most of their time hiding

their activities. They have erected a roof of blue tarp over the

lagoon in which the dolphins are killed, to prevent us from

documenting the massacres. They cover up the dead bodied with

plastic and butcher the dolphins in a slaughterhouse that is

completely covered up. They are paranoid about being photographed

while killing dolphins. They know that if the images reach the

Japanese public, their days as dolphin hunters are numbered. They

will not be able to find public support to continue the practice.

 

 

 

I hereby urge you to approach the Japanese people in a respectful

and peaceful manner. It is the Japanese people who hold the key to

stopping the dolphin massacres. In order to make this happen, we

need to build bridges between us, not burn them.

 

 

 

We need to work with the Japanese people, not against them.

 

 

 

Condemning a whole nation for the actions of a few people is simply

unfair. A better strategy would be to isolate the few people who are

guilty of killing the dolphins from the rest of the Japanese

population who are totally unaware of the problem.

 

Our chance to expose these crimes against nature and to isolate the

guilty from the innocent will come on October 8th. If everyone who

attends the demo will bring a friend, our numbers would double.

How's that for a concept?

 

As you can see, the list grows stronger with every passing day. This

is very encouraging.

 

 

JAPAN DOLPHIN DAY: List of Participants

America's Whale Alliance ~ San Francisco

Animal Friends ~ Croatia

Animalisti Italiani Onlus ~ Rome

Animals Voice.com ~ Seattle

Animal Welfare Institute ~ Washington DC

Blue Voice ~ San Francisco

Bite Back ~ Brussels

Born Free Foundation ~ London

British Divers Marine Life Rescue ~ London

Campaign Whale ~ London

Captive Animals Protection Society ~ London

Captive Dolphin Awareness Foundation ~ Huston

Catastrophes ~ London

Cetacean Defense ~ London

Cetacean Society International ~ New York City

COMARINO ~ Mexico City

Committee for a Dolphinarium-Free Belgium ~ Brussels

Dolphin Encountours ~ Mozambique

Dolphin Project ~ Miami

Earth Island Institute ~ San Francisco, Manila

ECOTERRA ~ Nairobi

EDEV ~ Den Haag

Environmental Investigative Agency ~ London

GAIA ~ Brussels

GEVHA ~ Barcelona and Madrid

Green Beings Global Animation Studio ~ San Francisco

Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society ~ Hong Kong

HSUS ~ Washington DC

In Defense of Animals ~ San Francisco

International Animal Rescue ~ London

Irish Seal Sanctuary ~ Dublin

Kepangi Makili ~ Solomon Islands

Last Chance for Animals ~ Los Angeles

Marine Connection ~ London

New York Whale and Dolphin Action League ~ New York City

Nomades des Océans ~ Paris

Ocean Care (ASMS) ~ Bern

Ocean Defense International ~ San Francisco

One Voice ~ Paris, Marseille, Miami

Philippine Society for the Protection of Animals ~ Manila

Rattle the Cage ~ Miami

Re-Earth ~ Nassau, Bahamas Islands

Reseau-Cetaces ~ Paris

Sea Shepherd ~ Vienna, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Budapest, Istanbul,

London, Den Haag, Strasbourg

SHARK ~ Chicago

Sea Vita ~ Caracas

SOS Grand Bleu ~ Marseille

Vier Photen ~ Switzerland

United Action for Animals ~ New York City

WDCS ~ London

Whale Workshop ~ London

Wild Earth Foundation ~ Argentina

WSPA ~ London

Zoo Check Canada ~ Toronto

" Eighty percent of success is showing up "

Woody Allen