JAPAN DOLPHIN DAY: What to do... Aug 7,2006

[Guest guest]

Forth Notice: August 7, 2006

 

JAPAN DOLPHIN DAY

Protest the Japanese Dolphin Slaughter

 

What to do about the Japanese dolphin slaughter: Sign another petition? Protest?

Or pack?

 

There is only so much that one can do with all the various marine mammal issues.

The question is: How do we budget our time and money so that we can be more

effective in our attempt to stop the Japanese dolphin slaughter? Do we simply

sign another petition and get on with our life? Or show up on September 20th for

Japan Dolphin Day and protest in front of a Japanese embassy or consulate

office? Or pack our bags and head for Japan to do something more about the

problem?

 

(Does anyone have any new ideas for other options? Please let us know, we are

willing to try almost anything as long as it's peaceful and lawful.)

.

Let's take a look at the three options we have so far:

 

1. Sign a petition: Petitions are always a good thing. Sometimes, however, they

can be counter-productive. Once you sign it -- and that takes about four seconds

-- you may be reluctant to do more than that. After all, you did sign a petition

that clearly states that you are against this barbaric practice. So you did your

part, right? Do you really need to do more than that?

 

The dolphin captivity industry has a new petition floating around. Several

marine mammal scientists and others in the industry have signed it. We did, too.

Everyone feels good about that, and it would be helpful if the one million

signature goal is reached and government officials in Japan actually respond to

it. But the question remains: Will any of those who signed on do anything else

to stop the annual dolphin slaughter and the related captures for dolphinariums?

Or did their involvement stop with a signature? The answer is blowing in the

wind.

 

2. Protesting the dolphin slaughter: Here's another option you might consider.

Showing up at the international Japanese embassies every year is one sure way to

let the Japanese government know that we will not go away until the dolphin

slaughter has been abolished. Protesting puts a face on the petition that we all

signed. Actually, one can participate in both actions. You can sign a petition

and show up for a few hours to express your opinion. We are talking about

investing a few hours for just one day in the entire year. Total time invested:

Two hours and four seconds.

 

We have invited the authors of the new petition to join us for Japan Dolphin

Day. We sent the invitation to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The WCS

are the " owners " of more captive wildlife than any other corporation in the

world. They own tens of thousands of animals at the Bronx Zoo, New York

Aquarium, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo Central Park Zoo, among other holdings.

If their industry showed up for Japan Dolphin Day, it could be the start of

something big. WCS is associated with the American Zoological Association and

the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Their home-page states that they

are " concerned about wildlife and conservation, " yet there is no mention of the

Japanese dolphin captures and killings.

 

We also requested that WCS contact others in their industry, such as the

International Marine Animal Trainers Association (IMATA.) We would like to

invite them to the demo. Check out their website to see how serious IMATA is

about this issue. Their video is quite revealing.

 

Please view it:

http://www.imata.org/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=42 & Itemid=74

 

3. Pack your bags and head for Japan is the third option. Not enough people are

considering this one. The Japanese whalers told us that they do not want

westerners showing up to witness the dolphin slaughter or the related dolphin

captures. So why not give them exactly what they don't want? Let's show up in

full force!

 

We need more creative ideas. We all need to work together on developing a

long-term strategy that will bring attention to the problem. We need more people

who are willing to show up in Japan. We need to commit more money to this issue.

You may not realize it, but this issue is actually bigger that the whaling

issue. It's even bigger than the tuna/dolphin issue. In spite of this, it's

still an obscure issue due to the fact that most NGOs are not really thinking

about this problem -- it's not on their agenda. By the way, we are including

the dalls porpoise slaughter in this. Most NGOs who work on marine mammal issues

don't even have a budget set aside for this issue. Amazing but true -- check it

out. Think about it -- how much is your NGO spending on this particular issue.

Don't know? Ask!

 

As of this writing, 32 NGOs have pledged to show up and give the dolphins a few

hours of their time on September 20th. They have also pledged to ask their

families, friends and members to show up, too. This is helpful indeed. Thank you

very much.

 

If I have left anyone off the list by a mistake, please contact me:

ricobarry

 

Thanks, Ric

www.SaveTaijiDolphins.org

 

Animal Welfare Institute - Washington DC

Begley's Best - Los Angeles

Born Free Foundation - London

British Divers Marine Life Rescue - London

Captive Animals Protection Society - London

COMARINO - Mexico City

Committee for a Dolphinarium-free Belgium - Brussels

Dolphin Project - Miami

Earth Island Institute - San Francisco

Environmental Investigative Agency - London

Friends of Dolphins - Toronto

Global Ocean - London

GAIA - Brussels

Society for Conservation of Marine Mammals - Berlin

HSUS - Washington DC

HSI - International Cities

In Defense of Animals - National Cities

International Animal Rescue - London

Last Chance for Animals - Los Angeles

LINC - Hong Kong

Marine Connection - London

Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition - Boston

No Whales In Captivity - Vancouver

Nomades des Oceans - Paris

NY Whale and Dolphin Action League - New York

One Voice - Paris

Orca Network - Seattle

Rattle the Cage - Miami

Responsible Animal Care Society - Vancouver

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - International Cities

WDCS - London

WSPA USA - Boston