Replies

More than 22,000 dolphins are slaughtered by fishermen in Japan every year. The hunt continues despite worldwide condemnation. In Taijie, more than 2,000 mammals are slaughtered in the season. Many Japanese believe dolphins should be treated like fish. They have been hunting dolphins for centuries and see any criticism of this as an attack on their culture. Newsflash for "Beautiful Americans" and oh-so-intelligent Japanese fisherman: Dolphins are mammals, and are also among the most intelligent creatures on this earth. They aren't fish. Fish don't have a complete nervous system and as such don't feel pain. Dolphins do. Aside from the obvious fact that intelligent marine mammals such as orcas and dolphins are different in almost every way from fish, you might consider the line above about "worldwide condemnation." This is the center of the world's dolphin slaughter, and it's almost entirely nonsensical. A few hundred dolphins are slaughtered for food, while the lucky few make it to training centers across the world.

I just find it incredible that people can equate a cow - an animal that cannot survive in the wild and in fact doesn't even exist in the wild any more - to an intelligent wild animal like a dolphin. A cow is essentially beef on stilts. A single wire is often enough to hold them in. Pigs are more intelligent and do have closely related wild cousins, but at least the majority of pigs are slaughtered humanely.

Dolphins simply aren't food animals. They are intelligent mammals, and no amount of chest-thumping by Japanese fisherman is going to change that.

Seriously, when it did become the "conservative" thing to do to be indifferent to animal cruelty?