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For many years, I have not really kept abreast of the daily news. I am not all that interested in politics or what famous people are doing to stay in the news, or even any sports, aside from golf and tennis. I would look briefly at the Culture Section, read the Funny Papers, check out the latest on Food and try to decipher the Bridge Deal of the Day.
But things have changed for me. Since I decided, by way of this blog, to lend my voice to nonhuman animal rights , so many rights issues, stories and topics are leaping out at me from all areas of the media-newspapers, social media, television and so on.
And so, when I first heard about the annual (September to May) slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan, and particularly about an Albino dolphin named “Angel” who was captured and confined in a Japanese Dolphinarium after the slaughter of her mother, I was, like so many of you, horrified.
I looked at many sites to try to understand exactly what was happening and why.
This is when I first heard of three men and their dedication to the plight of the dolphin.
is a former dolphin trainer who, over the course of ten years, captured one hundred dolphins to train for shows like the wildly popular Flipper ( I grew up on that show).
Since 1970, he has been un-training dolphins for release to their natural habitat-the wild, the ocean.
Every year since 2003 he makes three to four trips a year to Taiji and Tokyo to try to stop the annual slaughter.
Louis Psihoyos, a National Geographic photographer agreed to help Ric make a film about the annual Slaughter in Taiji.
The result is The Cove These two men are still working to stop the ongoing killing in the Coves of Taiji.
Kerry Lauerman is another voice being heard in the cause of non human animal rights.
Kerry is the former editor of Salon and has teamed up with Izzie Lerer to create a new website called The Dodo:For the Love of Animals
These three men were on The Katie Show this past week to shine a light on the plight of the dolphins. Here are some of the quotes that resonated with me:
Ric:
“We are trying to free Angel.”
“You have to become educated before you can take action.”
Louis:
“…tipping point-surge all over the world-we are there.”
“…the tweet heard around the world.”,in response to @CarolineKennedy.”
“…deeply concerned by in-humaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing.”
Kerry:
“…committed to animal welfare and getting people engaged.”
“Marine Aquatic Industry is fueling the annual slaughter of dolphins, not Japanese tradition or the food industry.”
Annie’s Vegan View
As a mother, it makes me feel very sad, because I know all about motherly love and the instinct we have to always protect our young.
As the child of a loving mother, I understand what it feels like to be cared for and protected by the being who first showed us love in this world.
The plastic dolphin marooned on the blue plate represents for me the harsh treatment exacted on any living being, whatever the excuse.
The picture of a mother dolphin and her calf swimming in their home represents to me peace and respect and love.
Let us show support for the people who are out there fighting for positive change. Let us visit their websites, become informed and lend our voices.
May all beings be happy and free.
As you said, it is difficult to understand why people act like this. However, we can guess the financial advantages for a trainer to be able to sell a “trained dolphin”. The same could apply to lions in a zoo and to elephants and monkeys.
I guess one thing we all could do is to be aware of this, not hide our head in the sand and try locally to change the people’s attitude on these treatments of animals.
I appreciate your comment and agree that these nonhuman animal industries are economy driven. I think the way to end this is to help any individual suffering at the hands of this industry while maintaining the goal of bringing an end to the industries themselves.