This makes me want to weep ? Tradition ? Humanity Insanity & barbaric cruelty. This slaughter is lawful, says Japan: More than 200 dolphins trapped in a remote bay are expected to be killed by hunters tomorrow Washington and Tokyo, normally the staunchest of allies, have been drawn into an unexpected diplomatic spat over the annual slaughter of dolphins in a secluded Japanese cove. Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga, defended the controversial cull in the town of Taiji as “lawful”, swatting away criticism from the US ambassador, Caroline Kennedy. Ms Kennedy, the only surviving child of the assassinated US President John F Kennedy, joined the chorus of global outrage this week when she said her government opposed the practice. “Deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing,” she tweeted, as fresh images appeared online showing apparently bloodied dolphins being herded into the cove for the slaughter, which is expected to take place today. Conservationists say a rare albino dolphin is among about 250 of the animals thrashing behind nets overnight. “Babies and mothers will be torn from each other’s sides as some are taken for captivity, some are killed, and others are driven back out to sea to fend for themselves,” said the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is monitoring the cull. The hunts are notoriously brutal. Fishermen on boats surround pods of migrating dolphins, lower metal poles into the sea and bang them to frighten the animals and disrupt their sonar. Once the dolphins are herded into the narrow cove, the fishermen attack them with knives, before dragging them to a harbour-side warehouse for slaughter. The best-looking dolphins are separated and sold to aquariums. Ms Kennedy’s message was translated into Japanese and retweeted thousands of times, prompting a backlash by nationalists who resent Western criticism of the cull. “Laughable,” wrote one anonymous post to an online bulletin board. “What about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the indiscriminate bombings of Japanese cities and US killings in the Middle East?” independent.co.uk/environment/nature/this-slaughter-is-lawful-says-japan-more-than-200-dolphins-trapped-in-a-remote-bay-are-expected-to-be-killed-by-hunters-9073079.html
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 00:48:11 +0000
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