In this article, “Japan's
Dolphin Hunt: Tradition or Barbary?” Sarah Wolfe talks about an ongoing
tradition in Japan, eating dolphin meat but the main controversy that has
surfaced in the United States is the ways in which these hunters gather
and kill these animals. The majority of discreet coves are located in Taiji,
Japan. Hunters would gather a large group of dolphins by making sound barriers to
disorient these helpless creatures and lead them to a small cove where hunters
wait on boats, carrying riffles and spheres. One by one, each dolphin is either
shot in the head or a sphere is thrust into its abdomen and endures a slow and
painful death. The hunters gather the dolphin carcasses and send them off meat
factories. Many animal activists in America traveled to parts of Taiji to
document these in humane acts of animal cruelty. A movie titled The Cove
documented a man's journey to stop the killing of dolphins. Over the past forty-five
years, the government of Japan has complied and banned the eating of dolphin
meat but now news about these animals being slaughtered has surfaced once
again. In this article, Wolfe address both sides of the argument; one might say
it is inhumane for the slaughtering of bottle dolphins but on the other hand,
the killing, packaging and distribution of dolphin meat is a job one needs to
support their family. I am less biased and against the slaughtering of these
animals. I personally do not agree with this "tradition", although their
methods of killing dolphins has changed, I do not condone with eating dolphin
meat. The Japanese government has a habit of turning a blind eye to
controversies like this, if they already banned the eating and selling of
dolphin meat, why do they continue to allow these small businesses to kill
these animals and sell the product? In my opinion, the government only complied
because of the amount of protest and fuss American Organizations did to
bring an end to the slaughter of dolphins. If it is against the law, the
companies should not be allowed to kill and distribute dolphin products.
Article Link:
General history of dolphin killing:
that's awful! i agree with you, this kind of behavior is horrible and should be stopped. there is plenty of other meat to eat, or no meat at all since i read somewhere that the Japanese intake of meat is very low compared to the US.
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