SLAUGHTERED (The slaughter of the dolphins has begun)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/archive/archive/tm_objectid=17762310%26method=full%26siteid=62484-name_page.html

17 September 2006
SLAUGHTERED
By Gary Anderson

THEY'RE rounded up in nets and left to grow weak before the knives come out and the sea churns red. The slaughter of the dolphins has begun...

Twenty-five of the most friendly, intelligent creatures known to man - the gentle mammals our kids dream of swimming with - were driven into a lagoon at Taiji, on Japan's south-east coast, last week.

After an exhausting day-long chase, a handful of the best specimens were picked to be sold to marine parks. The rest of these gentle animals faced an agonising death, killed for their meat, taking 10 minutes to die.

Over the next six months around 20,000 dolphins will be butchered. Of them, 2,000 will suffer at the hands of Taiji's "drive hunters".

FULL story at link above.

[havocmom]

1. Had to happen. They were enriching uranium and have WMD

:grr:

[focusfan]

64. people shouldn't kill those beautiful creatures

it would take a monster to kill one of those gentle creatures

[Xenotime]

92. And that's exactly what they are...

[Parche]

94. flipper

Flipper soup, is it that good?

[astonamous]

2. Here is a link for you in regards to dolphin slaughter...

http://www.awionline.org/whales/news/Dolphin_Demo_2006.htm

Trudy
www.pryorsplanet.com

[Omaha Steve]

6. This paragraph says it all

Thanks for the link.

Thousands of dolphins are killed in drive hunt fisheries, which occur from October to March in a few remote Japanese fishing villages. These mass slaughters have taken place for centuries and have systematically decimated many species of dolphins. When one species becomes depleted, the fishermen move on to another. With a growing demand from the captive marine park industry, bottlenose dolphins are the latest victims.

[astonamous]

9. Here's another K & R. n/t

[Triana]

109. People are so friggin greedy and STUPID

Shit like this makes me wish that something/someone would come along and do this to HUMANS one day. But you know, as fast as humans are destroying this planet and the species on it, they're doing it to themselves.

[nebula]

93. And yet another highly inflammatory, biased article

that fails to mention the fact that more dolphins are wantonly, brutally slaughtered by the large-scale US and European fishing industry than are at the hands of the Japanese.


But of course, its perfectly acceptable in the western media to single out the Japanese for criticism since they aren't white.



Here's an article that gives a much more accurate picture of the annual dolphin slaughter:

http://www.animalfreedom.org/english/information/bycatch.html

[nebula]

96. So where's all the bitter outrage and contempt

for the Europeans and Americans, whose respective fishing industries are responsible for the slaughter of countless thousands of dolphins, whales, seals, you name it, every single year??

I'm waiting.

Oh yeah, I forget. They're umm, you know, white. So of course they get a pass!

How silly of me.

[Nihil]

104. You are such a wanker

Is that enough "outrage" for you? :-P

Seriously, if you look through this the E/E forum threads, you will
find lots of outrage at "white people" who slaughter dolphins, whales
and seals (e.g., Greek, Icelandic and Canadians).

You will also find lots of outrage at "white people" who are devastating
the world's seas in the cause of profit whether it be by fishing fleets
hoovering up fish, the abyssmal "by-catch" catastrophe or simply through
uncaring pollution.

So, in short, either open your eyes or shove your racist card where the
sun doesn't shine.

[Teaser]

3. About damn time.

I hate dolphins.

When I was younger a large, white dolphin rammed my boat, sunk it. Killed the whole crew and took my goddamn leg with it.

I will hunt that dolphin until the day I die.

[HuffleClaw]

25. *snicker*

and it ran off with yer wife too i bet! and kicked yer dog.

[bitchkitty]

89. You're joking, right? n/t

.

[celestia671]

4. So sad!

I love dolphins!:cry:

[Psephos]

5. Mmm, porpoise goes great with those Japanese whale steaks

Humor aside, last I read, the whales the Japanese catch "for scientific research" where being turned into margarine and school-lunch meat.

Ultramodern Japan has some decidedly feudal bad habits.

Peace.

[LeftyMom]

12. and dog food

Also, much of what's labeled as whale in Japanese markets is actually dolphin.

[Psephos]

15. Pathetic. n/t

[OwnedByFerrets]

7. You should see the slaughter of the sharks.......

just for their fins. Its gruesome and should be illegal. But Japan is such a forward thinking society. :sarcasm: :puke:

[driver8]

24. It is absolutely disgusting. They slaughter the sharks to make soup!!

Shark fin fucking soup!!

These poor dolphins. This story makes me very sad.

[heliarc]

81. Point taken

but in this country we slaughter Cows for very few cuts as well. Steak and Hamburgers, Steak and Hamburgers. I'm hoping that we see more interesting cuts on the menu as people get more environmentally conscious.

But then I'm guessing you're a vegetarian? <sigh> to each his/her own.

[jayfish]

110. Umm, The Last Time I Checked, Sharks Were Not Domesticates. -NT-

Jay

[heliarc]

112. And, why is that important?

As long as they aren't being overfished. I have a huge problem with killing the shark only for its fin, but if you were eating the whole shark? Most fish aren't domesticates either.... right? Unless they are farmed. If I'm understanding the term correctly.

[pecwae]

31. I saw a clip of that

The fishermen where slicing the fins off the poor creaures then flinging them over the side back into the sea to die.

I am sick at heart at the way many humans treat other living creatures in torturous manners. Not to mention the ways in which some humans are also treated.

[Raster]

45. perhaps someone should cut the hands off of the fishermen...

and then fling them over the side.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. This is such horror. Sad K&R. nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. I have no words...

Only tears and a sick feeling in my heart...

[cigsandcoffee]

11. Cultural differences, maybe?

It may offend us, but do we have a right to disparage their centeruies-old traditions?

What other Western values should we implse on them?

[LeftyMom]

13. The international community does that all the time

Stop killing whales
Stop infibulating your daughters
Stop slaughtering the next tribe over
Stop eating bush meat
Stop selling ivory

If you like I can send you a link to a video of the dolphin slaughter in one Japanese town. There's no way any decent human being could watch it and not be incensed- dragging live dolphins up the street and leaving smears of thier blood is barbaric. Piling them up to die of exsangunation or suffocation under thier own weight is barbaric. Simply put, it's unneeded, it's a threat to present and future oceanic biodiversity and it's shockingly inhumane. That human beings could treat a highly intelligent creature in such a way says something horrific about us as a species.

[cigsandcoffee]

17. I understand that this is horrible, and do openly condemn it.

But they've apparently been doing this for centuries. What if they tell us to take our modern western sensibilities and stick them where the sun doesn't shine?

[LeftyMom]

19. Good question

They're doing that right now with larger ceteceans. Presently dolphins have very little international legal protection, the IWC doesn't protect them although many are listed in CITES. So currently we haven't even got to the step of telling them to stop.

[Beaverhausen]

20. Just because a country does something for centuries doesn't make it right

remember that thing we had here called slavery?

[cigsandcoffee]

21. I'm not saying it is right. They are.

I'm just wondering what we can do about it if they tell us to go take a flying leap.

[LeftyMom]

22. Economic pressure mostly

Direct intervention is unlikely since the slaughter occurs in Japanese coastal waters.

edit: Eliminating the live dolphin trade would reduce the economic viability of the hunts as well.

[ColonelTom]

34. Slaughter of highly intelligent creatures = our M.O.

That human beings could treat a highly intelligent creature in such a way says something horrific about us as a species.

One might say the same thing about Iraq...

[heliarc]

83. Right...

I guess you don't care about less intelligent creatures? I'm not sure I understand the distinction between slaughtering intelligent creatures and slaughtering stupid creatures. Frankly, I think its discriminatory and creepy to make that distinction. WTF?

Now, I'm a carnivore, because I enjoy meat, and believe the biological arguments that say we are meat eaters. I think there are responsible ways to treat and slaughter animals for food. The Dolphin slaughters are irresponsible IMHO, because I can't imagine they have a good argument to make about the depletion of the Fish supply. If anything there are too many people and they might as well cull the humans, but why downplay the slaughter of the fish like you do.

I mean... please. So you think they should delete death row inmates with an IQ lower than what? 64? or 82?

[ColonelTom]

88. um...WTF right back at you

How did you manage to conclude that I "downplay the slaughter of the fish" and that I would support the death penalty for the mentally disabled out of my one-sentence comment? Seems like you're the one in favor of it, if you're suggesting we "cull the humans." I mean, really.

[heliarc]

97. You made the distinction

between intelligent and less intelligent by the mere mention of intelligence. I'm simply saying that it seems an odd distinction to make. Yes, I eat meat so I am in favor of the slaughter of certain animals that I would hope we could consume in a responsible and efficient manner (rather than gluttonously or wastefully). That does not mean that I view the practice with any lack of gravity or concern. But my concern for efficiency and responsibility of slaughter makes no distinction of smart or dumb.

The discussion of euthenasia was merely a reference to the practice of old which made the same distintion you make: You wanted to make a distinction that killing intelligent animals is worse than killing unintelligent ones. I find that very problematic and I was being rhetorical and in no way espouse its practice. I am responding precisely out of disgust for the premise that smarter beings are more important somehow. I recently got into an argument with a friend about it. She will eat beef because cows are less intelligent, but will not eat squid or octopus... My response to that is, huh?

I don't know why the distinction. And I find it frankly rather elitist. I respect that you do not agree if that is in fact the case. Though I also realize that I may be misinterpreting the seriousness of your original statement. Perhaps you were making a sarcastic remark about our propensity towards killing intelligent beings in Iraq. That is certainly tragic as well. Thanks for the lively discussion.

[Heywood J]

43. Honestly...

>That human beings could treat a highly intelligent creature in such a way says something horrific about us as a species.

What acould be said about us in that way that hasn't been said before? It's not like that's new information. Inhumane is just another part of the day.

[420inTN]

100. Re: "That human beings could treat a highly intelligent creature..."

Just look around the planet at how we treat each other. Is it really such a surprise that we could slaughter a "lesser" species?

[femrap]

42. Why don't we 'impise' on them an even

centuries-oldER tradition of RESPECT OF OTHER LIVING THINGS.

Mother Nature will have the last word....

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

44. That's an older tradition?

Because even the ancient Greeks slaughtered and ate dolphins.

[420inTN]

101. Re: "RESPECT OF OTHER LIVING THINGS."

Honestly, when has that ever been a human tradition?

[Guaranteed]

106. Or a natural one. nt

[Odin2005]

61. Fuck Cultural Relativism

[Guaranteed]

105. To reject cultural relativism, you have to be consistent in applying your

principles.

You sure you really want to do that?

[heliarc]

80. Apparently, some here want to impose vegetarianism n/t

But truth be told, a cultural practice that involves slaughter that then does not somehow feed or sustain the populace seems utterly wasteful. Wonder whether there is an argument to be made that supports these claims that the dolphins eat too much fish. I'm guessing its more like humans eat too much fish.

Incidentally the killing of Sharks for food is no different from the killing of other animals for food (except for the fact that harvesting fins only is highly wasteful...

But in the states we eat a disproportionate amount of chuck and steak... why not brains and tripe. It would seem more environmentally conscious... not to mention delicious IMHO. The practice of only eating steaks seems just as wasteful as the Sharkfin market.

Frankly, I just don't understand the appeal of shark's fin soup. Gelatinous and rather droopy as far as delicacies go.

[bonito]

14. Those poor dumb animals

are humans, so where is the humanity?:(

[Richard D]

16. I don't understand why . . .

. . . a consumer level boycott against Japanese goods isn't happening. Their treatment of whales and dolphins is fucking abhorrent. I personally do not buy anything Japanese nor will I until this horror ends.

[Zhade]

53. Ignorance of the issue, IMHO.

I certainly wasn't aware they were eating dolphins in Japan.

I'm disgusted.

[heliarc]

98. They aren't eating dolphins...

From what I can tell this is worse than that, and frankly it would be better if they were eating them (IMHO). Then there would be some purpose to the act. In this case they slaughter them TO KEEP THEM FROM EATING THE FISH THEY ARE OVERFISHING TO BEGIN WITH... then they just dump the bodies. Its a massacre. There isn't any eating involved. Horrible.

[Captain Hilts]

18. Porpoises, like pigs, KNOW what's going on...nt

[heliarc]

99. So do Cows.

They will attempt to turn if they see the slaughter in front of them... There is a fascinating and controversial autistic designer who is the leading consultant for the abbatoires of the world... Temple Gradin. Her work has been instrumental in reducing the amount of pain, suffering and stress endured by animals at the slaughter. Dr. Gradin designed specialized slaughter routines that enforce spiraling paths for animals being led to the slaughter. The effort is to ease the stress most animals feel before they are killed. The turning path obscures the fate which lies ahead of them.

The work is chilling, and for that same reason, it must be done with as much humanity as possible. I assume that it is very controversial here, but I for one believe that humans are predatory, and respect the work Gradin has done to treat the animals we depend on with as much respect as the horrific assembly lines can provide the wonderful creatures that sustain us.

Here is her website for those who are at all interested.

http://www.grandin.com/

<sigh> waiting to get flamed <sigh>

[roguevalley]

23. I could just die when I read about things like this.

[Robbien]

26. It does make the heart heavy

especially knowing there is so little we can do about it.

[pinniped]

27. After they deplete the oceans, they can import more of our special....

mad cow beef.

[leftchick]

28. wtf is it with Japan?

and killing sea mammals? I think I am giving up my trip to Japan next year. This is horrible.

:cry:

[LeftyMom]

38. Write the tourism board (or whatever it's called) and let them know why

A boycott only works if you let the target know why you're spending your money with a competitor and what they can do to get your business back.

[leftchick]

39. oh I intend to.

:grr:

[Odin2005]

62. It's about politicians sucking up to nationalist types, IIRC.

[heliarc]

82. Frankly,...

I don't quite understand what it is with liberals and the "hierarchy of empathy" Somehow mammals are more empathy worthy, because they are smarter? Why? Less intelligent people feel pain. Some controversial studies might even imply that more intelligent beings are more likely to enjoy pain or seek it out for experimentation (sexual and otherwise). I think the Japanese slaughters are disgusting, but mostly because there is very little that the slaughter does to provide sustenance for the Japanese people.

Don't give up on your trip to Japan. Please go there and learn about Japan, I guarantee that you will learn more about the US than you will about Japan. Culturally, things are very different in Japan, and its worth going just to learn more about yourself even if for some errant reason you fault the whole of the Japanese populace for the practices of very few among the Japanese people. I bet there are quite a few people in Japan who are opposed to the practice. You also don't have to like Japan, but I think that you will have a tremendous experience. I certainly did when I lived there for 5 months. My eyes are still wide from the experience, and I find that most of the offense I take is not with Japanese society, but with ours.

[nebula]

85. Don't be stupid

Just as many if not more dolphins die in US and European commercial trawler nets as they do in Japanese ones.

But of course its ok to single out the Japanese because they're not white.

[pinniped]

103. There was equal outrage earlier in the year when....

the Canadians slaughtered thousands of seals.

There goes your pathetic "they're not white" argument.

[progressoid]

29. Japan eats 1/6 of the fish consumed in the world.

Imagine how much they would eat if they had American appetites.

[plasticsundance]

30. I'm going to check out the animal rights sites

And see if a boycott is being implemented. These sick dumb bastards kill one species and move on to another? I'm definitely going to see what is happening on this front. Japan should really have pressure brought to bear on it for this atrocity. O course, this was one reason why waters off of Cape Cod were closed to fishing, because the Japanese and Russian fishing boat dropped hoses down into the water and merely vacuumed everything up. They were sneaking in and doing this illegally.

[flvegan]

33. Sea Shepherd and Earth Island Institute

http://www.seashepherd.org/taiji/taiji_worldwide_protest.html

and

http://www.earthisland.org/saveTaijiDolphins/

[0007]

32. Just when ya think ya got a sicko under control another one

pops up!!

[flvegan]

35. The eradication of competition by fisherman.

Marine parks get some of them (one reason why I'll NEVER visit Sea World or its ilk), and the meat of the slaughtered is given away or sold. All in the name of elimination of competition for fish.

Man is the only creature that would see an animal that has, time and again, helped in one way or another, and literally stab him/her in the back in a brutal slaughter all in the name of monetary gain.

Japanese will be back slaughtering whales in December/January again this year. There is so little that shocks me at this point.

[buddhamama]

36. i am deeply disturbed

by the slaughter and inhumane treatment of any animal.

i do wonder however, if the author would write a similar article on the topic of shark hunting.

little is written about the slaughter of sharks, who are captured and treated in much the same manner as dolphins.

why is that? because they don't invoke the same innocent, playful image as dolphins?

are sharks less deserving of dignity and respect?


edited for clarity

[Divernan]

48. Disneyworld Hong Kong serves shark fin soup

In the fish markets of Asia, the tailfin from a basking shark can fetch nearly $10,000, a price tag justified not by its nutritional value, but its desirability as a vast sign on which restaurants can advertise their shark fin soup. Demand for the delicacy is rising fast, at up to $100 a bowl, fisheries around the world are in open competition to supply more than 10,000 tonnes of fins to Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore every year.

But British conservation groups warn that the high market value of shark fins is fuelling the outlawed practise of "finning", where sharks are hacked with machetes to remove their fins, often while still alive, before the carcasses are dumped overboard. The bodies, worth less to the market than fins, are discarded because they can contaminate other catches and take up valuable space in the hold.

According to the conservationists, finning is exacerbating a crisis in global shark populations, some of which have already plummeted by mroe than 90% since the advent of industrialised fishing. Records from fisheries pubilshed in 2003 revealed that numbers of thresher sharks have fallen by 75% in just 15 years through overfishing.

www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-30-2006-107079.asp

[buddhamama]

49. i know

and that is why i brought it up. It is a major issue. thanks for posting this, btw.

[Divernan]

50. My biggest thrill while diving was seeing three silky sharks

in a blue hole in the Bahamas - they were swimming in a large circle about 40 feet below me - in perfect synchronization - powerful and fast.

In Honduras, I saw several dolphins up close while diving. They can go about 30 miles an hour underwater - swim straight at you and then stop or turn away on a dime.

[peacebuzzard]

37. Barbaric murderers like these need to be reborn.

truly sickening.

eom.

[nam78_two]

40. Horrifying-will definitely not be vacationing in Japan/nt

[nebula]

86. Well you better not be vacationing in Europe or any part of the US

for that matter.

Twice as many dolphins are killed in commercial US and European tangle nets, trammel nets, drift nets, trawl nets, gillnets and long lines as they are by the Japanese.

[RiDuvessa]

41. Disgusting.

eom.

[nebula]

46. It's easy for Americans to sit here and judge

Keep in mind that Japan is a crowded, overpopulated island.

They do not enjoy the blessing of having vast fertile farm lands as we do in the US, so for the most part must rely on the harvesting of marine life for food, which seems to make up the majority of the Japanese diet.

[YOY]

47. A good amount of which is imported from the US and S. America

and not solely taken from the seas around Japan.

I highly doubt they they absolutely NEED those dolphins and whales.

[Divernan]

51. But the demand for dolphin meat is down because it's polluted.

"They are harpooned from boats while some men jump into the bloody water with big knives to cut their throats. Sometimes they're hooked and lifted out of the water while still alive."


The annual dolphin cull has been a tradition in coastal villages for centuries. But wholesale prices for dolphin meat have plummeted to just £1 a kilo as fears over pollution levels have turned Japanese consumers against tinned dolphin.


But the grisly trade has been sustained by lucrative sales of live animals to marine parks - whose bosses claim to be conservationists. In Japan alone there are around 50 dolphinariums, the same number as the whole of Europe.

[NorthernSpy]

57. I'll judge if I damn well feel like it

:nuke:

[brentspeak]

58. Dolphins are the only marine life available for the Japanese??

[LeftyMom]

60. hey, they're eating up all the rest of it too

Give 'em a while, they're handicapped by chopsticks.

[Odin2005]

63. Thats a BS argument.

Japanese won't starve if they stop slaughtering whales. As I said above, this is about politicians bend over for nationalists who don't like international organizations telling Japan what to do.

[WindRavenX]

66. NOBODY needs to eat fucking dolphins

Period.

[DemExpat]

52. I saw a a docu on this last year, but honestly, I see little difference

in the stress of herding and transporting farm animals like intelligent pigs, and cows, sheep, lamb, for our favorite flesh foods into trucks for often horrendously long journeys to the slaughterhouses, where the often exhausted and traumatized animals are forced into the slaughterhouse where they are treated none too gently.
I've seen plenty of documentaries on these horror stories of animal cruelty as well.

I felt sick and heartsick after watching the dolphin's plight, and feel sick and heartsick after seeing animal cruelty in transport and slaughterhouse conditions.

There must be a better, more humane way to treat and 'harvest' precious animals without suffering....

:cry:

DemEx

[eppur_se_muova]

54. Several posts on this in Environment/Energy some time back...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x57392

[KamaAina]

55. And yet our Japanese visitors enthusiastically enjoy dolphins

without chopsticks, soy sauce, etc. :spank: at Sea Life Park, our local Sea World wannabe, and on boat and kayak trips to see (and swim with!) them in the ocean.

So Japan has a number of enlightened citizens as well as some thoroughly barbaric ones. Sounds a lot like a certain other G-8 country...

[Joanne98]

56. I hate them! I hope they die of mercury poisoning!

[Puglover]

107. Kudos!

For such a well thought out and mature response! :eyes:

[NVMojo]

59. Hate to imagine what could happen if the Animal Kingdom could turn

on humans ...like that stingray.

[judaspriestess]

65. why don't they just kill humans and eat them

since the world is so fucking overpopulated anyway. I'm sure once the dolphins are gone, the hungry masses will move to humans. I'm way out of line I know but damn reading crap like this makes me angry. I'm just sick of humans eating every species out there to extinction. whats next? tigers, elephants, gorillas, *gasp* panda bears???

[pinniped]

67. The Japanese are also eradicating the yellow tail tuna population....

as well.

Are they eating too many fish, too?

They say the dolphins eat too many fish, so they are simply eradicating the competition.

Damm those whales for eating too much zooplankton. Don't they know that fish need to eat, too?

I guess their systematic extermination of the whales follows their same idiotic logic.

Oh, I forgot. Whales are for scientific purposes.

[phrenzy]

68. What about us eating pigs? (n/t)

[Codeine]

69. Pigs aren't cute enough to make a stink about.

People are very selective about their outrage. Killing porpoises and dolphins=bad. Killing pigs=breakfast. Fuckin' pathetic.

Meat is Murder, be it from Flipper or some dumb, ugly barnyard beastie.

[phrenzy]

70. That is it exactly. (nt)

[nebula]

71. Very selective indeed.

If you're going to condemn people for consuming an animal, you'd better be a vegetarian.

Otherwise, STFU hypocrites.

[Nihil]

87. No, you STFU and keep to the topic.

This thread is not Yet Another Veggie Thread but one about the appalling
treatment of dolphins. Not pigs, not cows, not guinea pigs - dolphins.

The arrival of the Vegan Shock Troops was not unexpected (and is often
very welcome) but I was surprised and disappointed to find you apparently
supporting the Japanese in their inhumane slaughter of yet another species.

Only black or white eh? All or nothing?

People who aren't vegans are not allowed to criticise the disgusting
behaviour of the dolphin slaughterers?

No, it appears you have no interest in animal welfare after all ...
hypocrite.

[pinniped]

72. Dolphins are being wiped out of existence because of their....

centuries old practices. If they had their way, whales would be long gone.

Are pigs overfished?

These mass slaughters have taken place for centuries and have systematically decimated many species of dolphins. When one species becomes depleted, the fishermen move on to another.

[nebula]

74. And probably just as many dolphins if not more

are killed by getting caught up in the nets of American commercial fishing trawlers as they are by the Japanese vessels. At least the Japanese consume the dolphins they catch. American fishermen simply throw them overboard to die.

The Japanese are not the only ones contributing to the problem of marine life depletion and extinction. The market and demand for seafood in the US is also massive. Overfishing by US vessels deprives the dolphins and seals of food, contributing to their demise. Ane every time you eat seafood you are helping to deprive dolphins of their food source.

But its always convenient to have a scapegoat instead of looking at the real problem, isn't it?

[LeftyMom]

75. Neither one nor the other is "the real problem"

Both are legitimately concerning aspects of the same larger issue of unsustainabe exploitation of the ecosystem.

I think the reason people get more fired up about the dolphin slaughter than about bycatch is that one is at least somewhat accidental and the other is brutal, coldblooded and entirely intentional.

[nebula]

79. Laughable argument

"I think the reason people get more fired up about the dolphin slaughter than about bycatch is that one is at least somewhat accidental and the other is brutal, coldblooded and entirely intentional."


Here's a couple photos of a dolphin that were thrown overboard by an English fishing trawler and washed up on the Southern Brittany coast. Sights like this are actually pretty common throughout Western European beaches due to heavy commercial fishing activity.

And yeah, I'm sure it was a real fun and humane way to die for the dolphin.

[LeftyMom]

90. Do you think I'm saying either is defensible?

I'm certainly not, I'm just suggesting why people care more about one than the other. It's probably also a matter of media exposure, people were happy enough to change thier buying habits to "dolphin safe" tuna (which is at best safER, but that's another post) when they heard about that issue.

In any case, I most assuredly do not eat fish, so you should probably go post those pictures at somebody who is contributing to the problem.

[pinniped]

77. Japanese are part of the 'real' problem.

The Japanese are not the only ones contributing to the problem of marine life depletion and extinction.

[LeftyMom]

73. Quite a few people on this thread are appalled by that as well

Just so you know.

[nebula]

76. European drift netting

Here's an article that explains how European drift netting wipes out tens of thousands dolphins a year. But I guess, its okay to kill dolphins if you're white!




http://www.animalfreedom.org/english/information/bycatch.html

[pinniped]

78. Ya, I guess it's ok since everyone's doing it.

The blame for wiping dolphins out of existence will be shared equally by Merkans, Japanese, and the Europeans.

Is anyone else part of the 'real' problem?

[nebula]

84. Which is why westerners are such hypocritical, ignorant dumbasses

Always bitching and moaning about others, while they are guilty of the exact same practice.

[pinniped]

102. Same practices, I think not.

Please direct me to the nearest cove where Merkans herd dolphins into the slaughter.

Save your bycatch line. Everyone on this thread has seen it already.

[LeftyMom]

91. Can I clear something up?

A whole lot of posters on this thread are veg*n, so can you please lay off the "hypocrive cuddlytarian" argument? If you want to start a thread about bycatch, try GD, or Enviornment, or donate and post to Veg/Vegan/AR (I'd like to think everybody there knows about it though) and keep this thread on-topic.

Thank you.

[earth mom]

95. I hate these people!

Yeah, I know you shouldn't hate anyone...but this goes for anyone from any country that does this! Gawd, all I eat is chicken or turkey anymore and seriously, this takes me one step closer to becoming a vegetarian! To kill such a beautiful animal is surely a sin if there is a god! This is just so hideous that I am shaking! :puke:

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[HuffleClaw]

108. so...

...somewhere out there on supermarket shelves are cans of tuna-friendly dolphin?

i've gotta the outrage about this reminds me of the folks who got all up in arms about the poor horses. so WE don't eat horse or dolphin, doesn't mean nobody else should.

[peacebuzzard]

111. This is a cruel bloodbath

and horrific torture for these magnificent giants. One more wrong direction in a very srewed up world.