International

Saturday 8 October is the international day of action against Japanese dolphin hunting. Protests against the annual slaughter of dolphins and whales, organised by a coalition of animal protection groups, are to take place outside more than twenty Japanese embassies and consulates. SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen will participate in one such action at the doors of the Japanese embassy in The Hague.

Ms Van Velzen said "In Japan every year around 20.000 dolphins and small whales are slaughtered in the most brutal fashion. Even new-born and nursing animals are hunted and put to the sword. This is not just to put dolphin meat on supermarket shelves. It turns out that personnel from dolphinaria are directly involved in this hunt, picking out the 'best' animals for their dolphinaria and thereby legitimising this barbaric hunting.”

The dolphins are located under the water with the help of sound waves and then enclosed in driftnets. The animals are often wounded or impaled in their attempts to break through these nets. Once trapped they are taken alive to the place where they are to be slaughtered. Through the force of gravity they collapse through their own ribs, their organs are slowly crushed and they choke.

Ms Van Velzen has asked environment minister Cees Veerman to raise the matter with Japan and to halt the import of dolphins from the country.