damian 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 I do not care if different cultures have different practices. This makes me sick. No doubt there is an excuse or reason for this scene. There always is. Dolphin slaughter ... This photo was taken on October 6 this year and provided for publication by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. It shows Japanese fishermen in a boat loaded with slaughtered dolphins in a cove in Taiji harbor, in Japan's Wakayama prefecture. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society documented the slaughter of dolphins to highlight an "international day of protest against the Japanese dolphin slaughter", which began yesterday. Photo: AFP/ Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Here is another angle: Bloody sea ... The photographs and video of dolphin slaughter released by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have brought international condemnation over the seemingly cruel methods used to slaughter dolphins, whose meat is destined for supermarkets. Japan describes the criticism as cultural imperialism. Photo: AFP/ Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Link to post Share on other sites
Siren 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 If it is true it is disturbing. Link to post Share on other sites
barok 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 sucks, but I always thought that the reason for killing the dolphins was to eliminate competition for the fish that we and they both prey on, and not to get dolpin meat. either way, it is as bothersome as any mistreatment of animals that happens in my book. From whale slaughter and factory farms to zebra pelts and mink farms, to bear traps and Steve Irwin I am not in favor of any of it. Link to post Share on other sites
mikazooki 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 dolphins are my favourite. i would rather be a dolphin than a me, so seeing this makes me sad. Link to post Share on other sites
dancing_barefoot 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 I hate that too, but - without wanting to cause a fuss - what makes this any different from many other animal atrocities that take place....many in our name. Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 Somewhere in there is a large shark lurking to give these people their uppance. Cull the dolphin numbers to make better fish supplies for the humans? 1. When was the last time Dolphins participated in Human Culling to make it easier for them to catch fish? 2. Whatever happend to the food chain and how do we explain the crap load of fish that still exist when there are and have been no controlled breeding practices for dolphins in wild for many hundred years. Link to post Share on other sites
Goemon 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 Here is some information about the group organizing protests against this practice. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 Sad. Thats all. Just Sad. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 Unfortunately it's true. A neighbour of mine (foreigner pro photographer) was going to go down there and take photos and get them out in the world, but it was too short notice for him to get there when he got the word, but he's been helping the other protesters. He said that some activists had been attacked by hostile dolphin killers. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 And the reason we can't stand this, but can put up with restaurants all over town that serve meat is...? That webpage doesn't even bother to make a case. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 Dolphins are my fav animals too. To look at that makes me sick. Isolated tribes sometimes hunt a whale here or there for survival, but this is ridiculous. Why the hell don't they slaughter all the frikkin cows in this country and for once and for all get rid of mad cows? ( saw new case on TV this am) Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 Apart from being dolphins, one of the issues in this case is the method of slaughter which is slow, prolonged and painful. Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 some people disgust me. that is so sad. and it happened on my birthday too Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Author Share Posted November 7, 2003 I must admit that I am not rational when it comes to this issue. Dolphins should be left alone. But where do you draw the line and why? I am pretty sure that most of us go to great lengths to avoid seeing images of a cow slaughter house that shoots 200 cows in the head every day and then hangs them upside down, blood etc etc Link to post Share on other sites
sweetaz 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 in my last job I had to go visit a slaughter/meat factory. they killed everything from pigs to cows. even standing in the carpark was a horrible experience.....the place just smelt like death . you are right db...where do we draw the line? i guess at least domestic animals we farm and to a certain extent control the population....wild animals on the other hand we really have no control over. we humans are such locusts Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I once watched some lard-ass NZ girl pestering an inoffensive Japanese girl at YH in Scotland accusing her of being a whale-killer. This while lard-ass was frying her pork sausages. That 'Sea Shepherd' website is pathetic. They talk about 'expressing your outrage', but they're no better than that overweight, opinionated, irrational nuisance in the YH. It's normal when inviting people to take part in a political campaign against a foreign country to outline a case for action. This they cannot be bothered to do. Are dolphins rare? Are they likely to go extinct if 'harvested'? Are there no regulations and standards in place for their slaughter? If so, perhaps they should be brought in line with other such standards. How about 'Sea Shepherds for a quick kill'? It seems that everybody has their favourite species and gets their underwear in a big bunch when somebody else kills and eats it. This is just 'speciesism', and may or may not one day be tolerated. Lentil stew, anyone? Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by Ocean11: Are dolphins rare? Are they likely to go extinct if 'harvested'? Are there no regulations and standards in place for their slaughter? If so, perhaps they should be brought in line with other such standards. How about 'Sea Shepherds for a quick kill'? It seems that everybody has their favourite species and gets their underwear in a big bunch when somebody else kills and eats it. This is just 'speciesism', and may or may not one day be tolerated. Lentil stew, anyone? Link to post Share on other sites
sweetaz 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 ok...let's throw this one in the stew... dolphins are often favs because of their intelligence and personality (friendly etc) what about animal intelligence? should that play a factor? Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 They're friendly whether we eat them or not, and they're not intelligent enough to resist being eaten... Isn't that the point? Link to post Share on other sites
sweetaz 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 that is very much a generalisation...as it applies to pretty much everything on the plant including humans.... so my question is ...when determining whether a particular species should be allowed to be "harvested" .....should intelligence play a factor? (if so there's gonna be alot of happy pork sausages out there) Link to post Share on other sites
sexer 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 No. And dolphins are rubbish and over-rated anyway. Chickens are much better. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 No, that generalization doesn't usually apply to humans - that's the point. Until dolphins develop effective communication so that word of this kind of slaughter gets about, and they start shunning humans, or at least Japanese, and maybe begin taking defensive or retaliatory measures (reprisals against surfers?), then the question is moot. People are generally only concerned if it looks like the species will vanish altogether, and not much even then. Anyway, nearly all animals that we eat are intelligent. That argument isn't going to go very far methinks. Link to post Share on other sites
sweetaz 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 nope you are prob right....i can't see dolphins organising a joint attack along the shores of Japan.....or everybody turning veggie anytime soon. Link to post Share on other sites
barok 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I'll take you up on the lentil stew, Ocean, as I don't eat any animals, and haven't for a long time. True I ate the occasional fish while in Japan, but I think eating fish is more justifiable than eating other animals, because fish live their lives free. Although after reading about overfishing, It has once again become less justifiable in my mind. Anyways, I think that the way people treat animals they eat reflects two things - 1) an ignorance lack of care about what goes into the farming of animals that become food, and 2) and active desire to continue ignoring and continue not caring about these animals. The information is everywhere. People just choose to ignore it. It upsets me too, when people cry foul over dolphins or baby seals or whatever. It's not that I have anything against those animals. I would like the dolphins and the baby seals to live. But yeah, how can you fry your pork sausage or whatever, and bitch about this. But on the other hand, just because something isn't endangered or whatever doesn't mean it is cool to eat it. Plus this case seems to have a similar flavor to the old killing whales for scientific research (on a fishing vessel) schtick. When it comes to killing marine animals, the Japanese seem to be particularily good at covering up their true intentions. The way people treat animals illustrates a lack of compassion that easily translates to the way people treat other people. It is much easier to ignore the bum on the street or the war in the foreign place, knowing that "someone somewhere, probably some politician is taking/should take care of that." As politicians don't seem to listen to people, I think the best thing people can do is make at least some effort to politicize their spending power, and not buy from companies who support causes that people don't like. And mention what you are doing and why to others. If people can do that without getting all soap-box preachy, some minds might just change. Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Hang on Barok, What about fish farms and free range chickens? And this raises an interesting point that I love to challange preachy in-my-face vegetarians with (no not you Barok). Why is it alright to murder and eat plants (sometimes while still living ) but not animals? I am currently doing a postdoc here in Japan studying plant hormone physiology and I am amazed on a daily basis just how "alive" and responsive to stimulus plants are. It is also amazing just how many chemicals and proteins/receptors are common or at least homologous in both plants and animals. So here's the challenge, define pain, define suffering and explain why plants are OK to eat but not animals (environmental issues aside). I am just interested what people think, and the arguments they bring up in the spirit of a good debate. (Perhaps I should have waited till 4.30 tomorrow for this one) Just think of those poor carrots Link to post Share on other sites
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