Hey All,

Check out this video of what the Japanese are doing to their neck of the ocean. Warning: it isn't pretty, but probably one of those things you need to see to believe.

www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin

I wish I knew what to do to help stop this, but how do you reverse the sentiment of an entire nation that the more endangered or threatened an animal is, the more they want to kill it, grind it up into potions and stews and eat it.

Two words:

Enola Gay.

Seriously though, I repulsed by that video.

That's pretty horrible. Especially the way they kill them.

There is not much you can do about it.

Exactly. I think that's what makes it even more brutal. Those dolphins are terrorized for hours before they're put out of their misery. I thought that kind of stuff stopped back in the 70's and 80's but I guess Japan didn't get the memo.

This is just one of those things that requires an entire cultural awareness. At least we can take some pride in the fact that our country is above this kind of wholesale animal brutality.

Looks like the video is from the 70's or 80's.

Ahhh!! Nica animurr make velly tasty sushi! Yummy yummy for hungly Amellican!

Unfortunately, it's not.

I found a website that deals with this "event". Apparently it goes on for months at a time in this backwater Japanese village. I hope they can do something to end it.

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/

I would have no problem killing any one of those people involved. Not only would I be able to sleep at night, but I think I'd sleep better! I feel the same way with whales, they're not just stupid fish. Any animal that can learn, problem solve, and develop interspeciary relationships shouldn't be treated this way. Fucking humans!!

By the way, have any of you sent emails like the website says? I just did.

I couldn't watch it all the way through. Started to get sick to my stomach.

That's heartbreaking.....

Same here.....ive seen some pretty horific things in my life but that is about the worst of the worst.

I realize that humans consume animal flesh but there is a proper method to harvest the animal and that is a prime example of pure and simple institutionalized cruelty.

Tim

I like this one better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwx77h1lKg

According to that 'save the dolphins' website, the villagers responsible for the killing use strongarm tactics to keep cameras away. They even tarp off every angle of the process.

That right there tells me they know exactly what they're doing, and aren't just some dumb uneducated fishermen. Seeing how cavalier they are in the video, you kind of get the impression that they're just too dumb to grasp the morality of their actions. Turns out that isn't the case at all.

Not really a person for much social action but that is a dispicable practice no matter how you cut it. I came across this link. Maybe it will do some good but maybe not.....at least its something.

End The Slaughter Petition

Tim

At least the baby seal hunt is regulated by the government to prevent the localized decimation of the species. It my be horrific to see (I'll never forget watching it in grade school), but it's a far cry from the lawless prolonged death those Japanese fisherman are dispatching.

Kev I think a better word would be "Torture."

That is beyond horrific.

Like I said before there is a proper way to harvest an animal and that is 100% not it.....

Tim

You "like" it better? That's pretty messed up.

I know I'm gonna be buried but.

You all need to view how chickens, turkeys, pigs, tuna, etc. are all "slaughtered" and boycott that as well. They are all "benign and innocent beings" too. :rolleyes:

Sorry guys, but their fucking food and they are harvested the most efficient way for the HUMANS to harvest them. Matter of fact looks just like a Tuna boat harvest to me.

It's almost like protesting the war in Iraq. We bitch about getting involved in other nations business and that we should stay out of it etc. etc. yet it's okay to bitch about how a nation garners their food supply and commodities?

The dolphins aren't "terrorized" or "tortured", they just aren't cared about as THEY ARE FOOD.

I'm gonna go drink a beer and eat some yellowtail...

Damnit Sam we cant agree on stuff

Im not gonna disagree with you sammy other than by saying some animals are worth more to humans than others.

You have no problems killing a spider in your home or a roach but they are all animals....aren't they???

I think the big issue is in the manner of the harvest and the flagrant lack of respect for the animals sacrafice.

There are many more ethical means to harvest those animals than the tactics they use. The animal is stressed and in survival mode which shows they are not skilled in harvesting an animal properly.

When I say ethical harvest that is basically the prevention of any undue suffering or trauma to the animal before the death.

Dolphins are a very smart and complex animal that we are only starting to understand.

With all that being said I agree with you about Cows, Chickens and other food sources. There should be means taken to ensure that the animal is protected from undue stress or treatment. It all boils down to respect...respect for that which is giving it's life so that yours can continue.

Being a vegetarian is no better. Last time I went to Biology class plants are living just like we do...they grow, die, breath, and eat. Actually to get technical plants are more evolved than we are....

The ancient atmosphere was Carbon Dioxide...we cant breath that...but plants do. See we need them but they dont need us at all and would be better off too boot!!!!

I eat meat, love the stuff and am an avid hunter. I know that when I down an animal there was NO suffering at all. No struggle, no broken bones or undue trauma, and certainally no wounding shots. That is an ethical harvest.

Ethical Harvest should pertain to any animal that is used as a food source.

What those "fishermen" and I use the term lightly did is the antithesis of Ethical Harvest.

Hope that helps to clarify the outroar.

Tim

[END RANT]

I read an interesting article recently about a scientific experiment conducted to determine whether animals are "self-aware". I can't remember the exact results, but it was determined that only higher order mammals like dolphins and apes were were self aware -- that is, they were smart enough to know that when they looked in the mirror they knew they were looking at themselves. They might not be capable of complex thoughts, but they have a conscious and are aware of their own existence.

I disagree. Plants don't have brains or central nervous systems. They're not capable of feeling pain, or having any thoughts (no matter how primitive).

Good point on the "self aware" issue but....

Im gonna disagree with you about the CNS aspect. The largest living organism on the planet is an Aspen grove near Crested Butte CO. When a hostile bug or growth appears the trees will send out a chemical signal alerting the others to the threat. In addition just because the organism differs in anantomy from what we are used to does not mean they dont have something else that we dont know about yet or a mechanism that works in a differing manner than what we can evaluate. Pain is a human measure of perception that is not scientifically quantifiable in any other animal but humans. They surely feel discomfort in certain conditions but pain is a purely human invention. A carrot all nice and warm and happy in that dark ground is suddenly ripped by its roots and thrown into sunlight for the first time. The organism is aware of what has happened but more than likely not in a manner you or I will ever understand. Scientifically plants are just as alive as you or I and remember....we need them....they dont need us!!!!

But granted a tree is an organism that is programmed by nature and instinct just like most other terrestrial animals with the exception of the noted and probably a few other higher order mammals.

But hey you never know maybe its like the movie "Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe" and were only the third smartest animals around!!!!!!

Tim

You are probably going to have to go further than that statement.

Some animals are worth more to us in Western civilization. In many societies around the world, no animal life is worth much.

There are similar videos out there on the net regarding the treatment of dogs in places like Asia.

In Western society, we love dogs. We love dolphins. In many places, they are food and treated very cruelly and inhumanely by our standards.

I don't like it. Not at all. But how far are we going to go in telling other people what to do and what to eat?

Aren't some people always telling us that here in this country we are supposed to respect other cultures and not make moral values about them? I don't agree with that sentiment, but we hear it all the time from certain people for certain specific reasons.

Human life is cheap in many parts of the world. The world barely embraces that fact, never mind animal life in other cultures.

MM hits the nail on the head again.

I don't know if it is starting to scare you as much as me, but we seem to have a problem with agreement lately.

Save the Dolphins. Eat an Illegal Alien