Japan’s New Dolphin Slaughter Method Still Inhumane, Say Scientists

When the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove was released in 2009, it was met with international outrage as people learned about the disturbing secret the small coastal town of Taiji was keeping – the brutal slaughter of thousands of dolphins and other small whales every year.

People were horrified to learn that these animals were being rounded up and killed, while their mercury-laden meat was being distributed to the public and often mislabeled as whale meat. A Care2 petition gathered more than 473,000 signatures opposing the slaughter. A growing number of scientists and marine mammal biologists have added their names to an open letter opposing these hunts.

This year, an estimated 900 were killed and fishermen ended the hunt early for the fourth year in a row thanks to ongoing public pressure. Another 247 were kept alive and sold for captivity, according to Mark Palmer, the Associate Director of Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/japans-new-dolphin-slaughter-method-still-inhumane-say-scientists.html#ixzz2QuhmLB1S