Sign-On Letter: President Leonel Fernandez Reyna

[Guest guest]

Dear colleagues,

 

Several people asked to see the sign-on letter. Here it is. The letter will be

translated into Spanish later today.

 

We are hoping to publish the letter in a leading newspaper in the Dominican

Republic. Maybe we can buy a full page if it's not too expensive. We are racing

the clock and time is running out for the Taiji Twelve. If you are thinking

about signing on you better do it soon.

 

Thanks, Ric

www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

 

 

(DRAFT)

 

 

President Leonel Fernandez Reyna

National Palace

Avenida Mexico corner of Doctor Delgado

Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic

 

 

Dear President Reyna,

 

 

 

We, the undersigned, respectfully request that you take immediate action and

help us abolish the world's largest dolphin slaughter.

 

 

 

Ocean World Adventure Park is trying to import into the Dominican Republic 12

dolphins captured in a recent Japanese hunt, which inhumanely killed hundreds of

other dolphins. By allowing the dolphins into your country, the Dominican

Republic's reputation as an environmentally friendly tourist destination will be

severely tarnished by direct association with the Japanese dolphin slaughter.

Please do not let that happen.

 

 

 

Japan kills more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises annually, most of which are

butchered for sale in meat markets. The public will be shocked to learn that

members of the international aquarium industry subsidize the slaughter by paying

$45,000 (US) or more for prime dolphin specimens for dolphin shows and

swim-with-dolphins programs. Some are sold for $100,000.

 

 

 

The Japanese dolphin slaughter, which is also known as " drive fisheries, " is

extremely violent, with dolphins chased to exhaustion, surrounded by a large net

and driven ashore where they are hacked to death. Dolphinarium staff selects a

few of them for public display, usually young females with no marks or

blemishes. Dolphinariums, aquariums and zoos that purchase dolphins from the

Japanese dolphin hunters claim to have " saved " them from certain death. In

reality, however, their trade in these dolphins supports the continued existence

of the dolphin massacres. In some cases, members of the dolphin captivity

industry have even gone so far as to orchestrate the drive fisheries, thereby

causing the deaths of hundreds of dolphins in order to obtain a few " show

quality " dolphins for their facilities.

 

 

 

If the international aquarium industry ceased buying dolphins from the slaughter

pens, the dolphin slaughter would be severely crippled, as dolphins sold for

meat on the market only bring the equivalent of a few hundred dollars.

 

 

 

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition has obtained rare broadcast-quality video

footage of the cruel, bloody capture of the 12 dolphins destined for import to

the Dominican Republic, in Taiji, Japan. The dolphins were manhandled out of the

water only to be isolated from their pod mates as those pod mates were

butchered. Aquarium representatives helped with the killing as well as the

captures. Please see for yourself just how cruel and deadly the capture of the

Taiji Twelve was:

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCx0ORuDZFE

 

 

We are hereby urging you to immediately block import of the 12 Japanese dolphins

into your country. Your action would send an extremely important message to

Japan that environmentally responsible countries such as your own will not

subsidize the Japanese dolphin slaughter.

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Earth Island Institute - San Francisco, California

Animal Welfare Institute - Washington, DC

In Defense of Animals - San Rafael, California

Elsa Nature Conservancy - Tokyo, Japan

Sociedad Dominicana para la Prevencion de Crueldad a los Animales - Dominican

Republic

The Marine Connection - UK

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - Bath, UK

Dolphin Project - Miami, Florida

The Captive Animals Protection Society - London, UK

North Coast Cetacean Society - Gil Island, Canada

Dolphin Spirit Project - Sausalito, San Francisco, California

Captive Dolphin Awareness Foundation - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Animal Protection Institute - Sacramento, California

Zoocheck Canada - Toronto, Canada

The Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition - Boston, Mass.

Rattle the Cage - Miami, Florida

World Whale Police - Seattle, WA.

Committee for a Dolphinarium-free Belgium - Brussels, Belgium

Conservation de Mamiferos Marinos de Mexico - Mexico City, Mexico

Lifeforce Foundation - Vancouver, Canada

Lifeforce Ocean Friends - Seattle, Washington

Coalition for no Whales in Captivity - Vancouver, Canada

Canadian Marine Environment Protection Society - Vancouver, Canada

Ocean Watch Boaters Association - Vancouver, Canada

Blue Voice - St. Augustine, Florida

Institute for Environmental Science and Culture - Tokyo, Japan

Tursiops ans Compagnie - French Polynesia

Pacific Orca Society/OrcaLab - Hanson Island, Canada

Orca Network - Greenbank, Seattle, Washington

Voice for Animals Humane Society - Washington, DC

Last Chance for Animals - Los Angeles, California

Re-Earth - Nassau, Bahamas Islands

Advocates for Animal Rights - Nassau, Bahamas Islands

Study Group on Mediterranean Cetaceans - France

Animal Rights Hawaii - Honolulu, Hawaii

Fundacion Altarriba - Barcelona, Spain

Animals Asia Foundation - Hong Kong, China

Christians for Animals Network - Australia

Teyeliz - Mexico City, Mexico

Wild Earth Foundation - Buenes Aires, Argentina

Friends of the Earth - Malaysia

Linking Individuals for Nature - Hong Kong, China

Irish Seal Sanctuary - Dublin, Ireland

Paws for Thought Foundation - Hong Kong, China

Nomades des Océans - Paris, France

Return To The Wild - London, UK

Whale Rescue Team - Los Angeles, California

Finns for the Whales Society - Helsinki, Finland

Compassion in Action - Calgary, Canada

Performing Animal Welfare Society - California

Action for Animals - California

Friends of the Dolphins - Toronto, Canada

Cetacean Society International - Georgetown, Connecticut

The Born Free Foundation - London, UK

Gaia - Brussels, Belgium

Protect Our Dolphins - South Africa

Association Mundo Azul - Lima, Peru

World Society for the Protection of Animals - London, UK

Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine - Munich, Germany

Global Ocean - London, UK

Rainforest Concern - London, UK