Dolphin treatment in Japan

[Royston]

A friend sent me this video, not sure if anybody has already seen it, but a warning... it 'is' very harrowing, and illustrates (very graphically) the inhumane treatment of dolphins in Japan. It's clear to see the distress of these mammals, with or without the narration.

 

http://www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin

 

There's also a petition, if anybody is interested in signing.

 

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/golfinho/

 

Now, as much as I respect other cultures, and in some cases that entails the food they eat...but I can't see that this treatment is justified at all, I'm actually baffled that this is still allowed, especially to 'clearly' intelligent mammals.

[Guest ScienceProf]

It's a truly sad story.

[Sisyphus]

I'm temporarily on a very slow internet connection. Could you summarize it?

[-Demosthenes-]

It looks like several fishing boats use sound rods (?) and nets to round a large amount of dolphins into a small area of ocean near the shore. I guess they poke/stab some of them so they are less likely to try and get away (as they will stay with other dolphins that are injured). Then they pick up one or two at a time by the tail with a crane and take them somewhere in trucks where they are laid on concrete fully alive and conscience (from this point on in the video everything is pretty much covered in blood). Then fisherman walk by and slit their throats and try to stand back as the dolphins will squirm and contort for a period of time, with their heads half cut off, until they die. The video mentions that this may be in violation of international treaty(s), and that sometimes the meat is sold as whale meat instead of dolphin.

 

I recommend that if you are squeamish at all then you should not watch it.

[GutZ]

OMG that's horrible...

[Royston]

OMG that's horrible...

 

The video is a few years old now, but unfortunately this is still going on in Taiji and I think a few other villages off the coast of Japan. They've recently built a perimeter wall following the video gaining awareness over the last year (IIRC), so it's difficult to take pictures / film et.c. As mentioned earlier, I believe it's against international treaty, but licenses are still available from Tokyo to hunt dolphins, which need to be renewed every year. However, the dolphin meat that's sold in Japan and exported to China et.c has been found to have dangerous levels of mercury deposits and could put a stop to the export and selling of dolphin meat...infact one of Japans major supermarkets has already put a ban in place.

 

Although most people are aware of the animal treatment in certain countries is nothing short of disgusting, this video out of any I've seen, really gets the message across. I watched a documentary on the animal treatment in highly reputable farms in the UK e.g Norfolk farms, and it was shocking...and it's really making me think twice about grabbing the nearest pack of mince, or chicken thighs (oh the power of media) although I'm not adverse to eating meat, so long as I know the animal has been treated correctly, which although I was a little uncertain before, I'm feeling less and less comfortable about chowing down on a hearty spaghetti bolognese. Hopefully measures will be put in place, so the wellbeing of the animal is guaranteed.

[Sisyphus]

Is anybody else getting kind of fed up with Japan? Dolphin torture, refusal to acknowledge war crimes, racist, conformist, hypermaterialistic culture, anime....

[Callipygous]

Is anybody else getting kind of fed up with Japan? *blahblahblah* anime....

 

yep.

[Phi for All]

Sounds like it's time to start a web campaign to raise awareness. Hard to believe anyone could treat such a beautiful animal that way. At least cows are ugly and grown for food purposes.

Is anybody else getting kind of fed up with Japan? Dolphin torture, refusal to acknowledge war crimes, racist, conformist, hypermaterialistic culture, anime....

This *may* (please note the emphasis) be part of a covert Bush administration plan to curb the growing Chinese middle class by using mercury poisoning. If anyone calls me a conspiracy theorist we'll know who they're working for.

[-Demosthenes-]

Sounds like it's time to start a web campaign to raise awareness. Hard to believe anyone could treat such a beautiful animal that way. At least cows are ugly and grown for food purposes.

 

Cows have been bred for years for their meat. They're stupid balls of meat with legs. Dolphins are wild and extremely intelligent creatures, possibly second only to the human being and other great apes.

[Phi for All]

Cows have been bred for years for their meat. They're stupid balls of meat with legs. Dolphins are wild and extremely intelligent creatures, possibly second only to the human being and other great apes.

Wish I'd said that.

[Royston]

Sounds like it's time to start a web campaign to raise awareness. Hard to believe anyone could treat such a beautiful animal that way. At least cows are ugly and grown for food purposes.

 

Well, if it was part of the American culture to slice a cows head half off, and leave it twitching until it bled to death do you think there would be the same outcry, probably not (see bold). I presume you mean, it doesn't matter what the animal is...and I agree to an extent, but then it goes onto the feeling capacity debate. Sorry if I misinterpreted your point.

 

My OP was really getting at, why do people use the 'culture' argument as a means to treat animals like that (if they're using methods like that in Japan, what else do we not know about). You hear arguments such as, 'well we've been doing it for generations'...so, they had public hangings for generations, I just fail to see why 'culture' justifies said act. I guess money, and the government not wanting to stamp out certain practices in fear of losing popularity et.c et.c

 

And, yes there was an element of, this sucks, is anyone else aware of this.

[-Demosthenes-]

As far as cows being more ugly (and therefore more killable) --it's not so much that they're ugly. It's that they're stupid. I would assign more value to a more intelligent animal. Dogs, horses, whales, dolphins, great apes, I think a lot of people assign more value to these animals. We can have a connection with a lot of these animals.

[Royston]

As far as cows being more ugly (and therefore more killable) --it's not so much that they're ugly. It's that they're stupid. I would assign more value to a more intelligent animal. Dogs, horses, whales, dolphins, great apes, I think a lot of people assign more value to these animals. We can have a connection with a lot of these animals.

 

Well yeah, hence my comment on feeling capacity. Obviously aesthetic appearance has nothing to do with it (that's what I thought Phi was getting at...dolphins are beautiful.) Why is killing a butterfly any worse than treading on a dung beetle.

 

I'm really more concerned with the culture argument. With extremes like the video, how far can you take the 'culture' argument. As I said before, I'm not adverse to meat eating, I'm not going to turn veggy, but I am concerned with what we don't know, and what measures are going to be taken to ensure the correct treatment of 'what will eventually arrive on our dinner plate.'

 

I hope none of this is coming over as preachy, or activist, because that's not the intention.

[Phi for All]

Well, if it was part of the American culture to slice a cows head half off, and leave it twitching until it bled to death do you think there would be the same outcry, probably not (see bold).

While I don't think this is the process I think *it does happen* with cows. The sheer number that go through the slaughterhouses is pretty staggering and they don't always get the quick kill they want. I just don't think it's supposed to happen. It's a safety issue instead of a humane issue to the slaughterhouses. And if I knew that inhumane treatment was part of the methodology I would object in many ways.

I presume you mean, it doesn't matter what the animal is...and I agree to an extent, but then it goes onto the feeling capacity debate. Sorry if I misinterpreted your point.

Being a meat eater I have to justify it by saying that animals raised for their meat are different from herding wild animals to be slaughtered for the same reason, at least in modern times. And as has been mentioned dolphins are very high in intelligence. Their mass slaughter simply for food serves no porpoise.

My OP was really getting at, why do people use the 'culture' argument as a means to treat animals like that (if they're using methods like that in Japan, what else do we not know about). You hear arguments such as, 'well we've been doing it for generations'...so, they had public hangings for generations, I just fail to see why 'culture' justifies said act. I guess money, and the government not wanting to stamp out certain practices in fear of losing popularity et.c et.c

Culture is not a relevant argument for inhumane treatment of animals but this seems to be an argument of degree and economics. It could be argued that a country like Japan can't provide enough land to raise herd stock the way the US can but using the open oceans as your corral is just plain wrong ("I have the world's largest seashell collection, which I keep strewn across beaches all over the world. Maybe you've seen it." -Steven Wright).

And, yes there was an element of, this sucks, is anyone else aware of this.

And I, for one, thank you for keeping it in front of our faces. Apathy fails when we're reminded how much we care.

[-Demosthenes-]

Well yeah, hence my comment on feeling capacity. Obviously aesthetic appearance has nothing to do with it (that's what I thought Phi was getting at...dolphins are beautiful.) Why is killing a butterfly any worse than treading on a dung beetle.

 

I'm really more concerned with the culture argument. With extremes like the video, how far can you take the 'culture' argument. As I said before, I'm not adverse to meat eating, I'm not going to turn veggy, but I am concerned with what we don't know, and what measures are going to be taken to ensure the correct treatment of 'what will eventually arrive on our dinner plate.'

 

I hope none of this is coming over as preachy, or activist, because that's not the intention.

 

Nah Snail, I know what you were talking about.

 

Being a meat eater I have to justify it by saying that animals raised for their meat are different from herding wild animals to be slaughtered for the same reason, at least in modern times. And as has been mentioned dolphins are very high in intelligence. Their mass slaughter simply for food serves no porpoise.

 

I agree. Eating animals has been seen as something of a necessary evil in these modern times. We do it because we have to (to a certain degree). But killing such intelligent animals for food is not necessary (especially in such an inhumane way). All it is is evil.

 

And I, for one, thank you for keeping it in front of our faces. Apathy fails when we're reminded how much we care.

 

Even if there's nothing we can do, we can still remember. When Dolphins take of the world it's people like us whose death will be quick and painless (God have mercy on the Japanese...).

[Royston]

And I, for one, thank you for keeping it in front of our faces. Apathy fails when we're reminded how much we care.

 

Thanks in return, and sorry for misinterpreting your earlier statement, I wholeheartedly agree with your last post.

[Genecks]

Is anybody else getting kind of fed up with Japan? Dolphin torture, refusal to acknowledge war crimes, racist, conformist, hypermaterialistic culture, anime....

 

*sings*

 

These are some of my fav-or-ite things.

[Royston]

*sings*

 

These are some of my fav-or-ite things.

 

It's 'these are a few of my favourite things.' If you're going to attempt sick humour, the least you could do is get the lyrics right.