A letter to Japan

The Safari has written a letter which you may copy and amend to suit your circumstances but remain dignified and polite despite what you may be feeling.
We have sent it to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonweath Affairs, the Japanese embassy here in the UK, The British embassy in Japan and the Japanese Commission at the UN

Dear sir

I am writing to you on behalf of the large pod of Bottle-nosed Dolphins currently held at Taiji. I am student of natural history and an environmental manager of over 30 years experience devoting many hours voluntary time to the monitoring and surveying the cetaceans of the British Isles for conservation purposes. The pod currently held is almost as big as the UK population for this species!

I would urge you to bring this matter to the attention of the Japanese Prime Minister and his government immediately.

The ecocide at Taiji has little to do with tradition or culture now, it  is all about profit and greed and as such has no place in a supposed 21 Century civilised nation; it should be consigned to the history books as soon as is possible.

Almost all nations are currently committing acts of ecocide, including my own sadly, but the events at Taiji this winter culminating this weekend are perhaps the most shameful and abhorrent of them all. The brutality and barbarism meted out on the sentient victims is sickening.

The removal of young animals from their mothers is little short of kidnap – imaging how you would feel if your child was forcibly taken from you and made to dance for entertainment in a tiny prison cell. Dolphin mothers don’t know the final fate of their offspring but the bond they have with them is every bit as strong as the one between human parents and their children.

It has been known for many years now that there is only a little science that can be gained from keeping these animals in captivity and the taking of the albino juvenile in my mind was for no more purpose than a Victorian-style freak show exhibit.

I respectfully ask that the Japanese government study this matter closely and make the decision to end these atrocities immediately and at the same time close down the ‘Dolphinaria’ that drive the demand for live captures.

The practice is not sustainable whereas with the numbers of animals so close to shore the possibility of a dolphin watching tourist industry must be feasible.

For evil to prevail all that is necessary is that good men do nothing, please be those good men and do something.

I look forward to hearing from you

Many thanks

We hope many of you will send your message of disgust and that the Japanese Government takes note.