In the court of law, this issue seems to be settled—for now, anyway. But what about in the court of public opinion? Do you believe animal slavery and human slavery are the same thing?
A judge yesterday confirmed your suspicion, dismissing the case because “the only reasonable interpretation of the Thirteenth Amendment’s plain language is that it applies to persons, and not to non-persons such as orcas.”
The good folks over at Ric O’Barry’s The Dolphin Project have filmed a new PSA about the overall horribleness of confining the planet’s second smartest mammal to a life of solitude and boredom in an aquarium tank.
That’s how Ric O’Barry describes the smallest dolphin tank in the world.
Located in the Taiji Whale Musuem in Taiji, Japan, the tank is within walking distance of the town’s infamous killing Cove where thousands of dolphins are senselessly slaughtered each year.
During O’Barry’s most recent trip to Taiji, the Cove star visited the tank—which is about as big as a medium-sized conference room—and spent more than 20 minutes riffing on the trapped, doomed lives of the tank’s current inhabitants, two dolphins he nicknamed “Sad” and “Lonely.”
The United States Navy last week made waves by announcing it would resort to a controversial military tactic should things escalate in its Strait of Hormuz standoff with Iran: using dolphins to detect mines if the Republic blocks the only sea route out of the Persian Gulf with underwater explosives.
The cetacean activism community was outraged, as they should be. Using the second smartest mammal on the planet as pawns in a military chess match is nothing short of speciesism, “a form of prejudice against beings who are not us that is akin to racism and sexism.”
Earmuffs, marine mammal lovers. Chances are you won’t be able to stomach this report.
As the world population rises, many people living in “coastal poverty-stricken areas” are increasingly looking to the open ocean for their next meal, eating marine mammals like dolphins, seals, manatees, and even polar bears.
A new study published in Biological Conservation has found that since 1990 a whopping 87 marine mammal species have been consumed in at least 114 countries.
After roughly a week and a half of bloodless waters, death has returned to the notorious inlet in Taiji, Japan.
These animals are self-aware, they are extremely intelligent, and they must have been completely terrified, they were witnessing and listening to their family die
SaveJapanDolphins is reporting that seven Risso’s dolphins were slaughtered today in the infamous Cove. This brings 2012’s kill count to roughly 153 dolphins, according to Ceta-base.com. Put differently, that’s more than six dead cetaceans per day.
It’s official. Connyland, an amusement park in Lipperswill, Switzerland, needs to get out of the dolphins-for-show business.
World Radio Switzerland is reporting that two dolphins found dead at the park in November died from brain damage after overdosing on antibiotics.
The deaths of eight-year-old Shadow and 30-year old Chelmers ignited international dismay after it was initially suspected that they were poisoned by hallucinogens thrown into their enclosure by ravers. Shortly before their deaths, a two-day techno party was held on the grounds of the amusement park.
But the prosecutor is now ruling out third-party foul play, reports World Radio Switzerland.
Rejuvenated after a two-week holiday hiatus, fishermen in Taiji, Japan, have returned to work with a vengeance.
Since January 1, between 60 and 65 dolphins have been murdered in the waters of the notorious Japanese inlet, according to numbers reported on CETA-base.com.
Professional stock car driver Leilani Münter is putting the pedal to the metal in her quest to drive a Cove-themed car at the famed Daytona International Speedway next month—but she needs your help to cross the finish line.
Münter’s target is the ARCA race in Daytona, Florida, on February 18, 2012, which will air live on SPEED television, a channel available in 79 million homes.
