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September 1st marks the official open of dolphin killing season in Taiji, Japan.
The hunting season, which goes until March each year, sees the brutal slaughter of hundreds of dolphins and has been denounced by the organization In Defense of Animals (IDOA).
“The primary motivation for the hunting and killing of dolphins is the captivity industry, where live, trained dolphins fetch a much higher price than dead ones,” says Dr. Toni Frohoff, IDOA’s Cetacean Scientist. “We call on the captivity industry in the United States to stop contributing to the demand that fuels these cruel hunts.”
During these hunts, wild dolphins are driven into a cove along the cost of Taija and held there, sometimes for days, according to IDOA.
Then, show quality dolphins will be picked out and torn away from their families permanently, before being train and sold to aquariums around the world.
Some, or even all, of the remaining dolphins will be killed and butchered for their flesh.
IDOA says that demand for captive dolphin entertainment may be declining in certain places within the U.S., but not everywhere.
The new Mississippi Aquarium, which is being built in downtown Gulfport, plans on including a new dolphin aquarium.
“Promoting captive dolphin entertainment is tantamount to promoting the brutal killing of dolphins that happens each year in Taiji,” continued Dr. Frohoff. “The only way to stop these slaughters is to stop promoting captivity, which in itself causes enormous stress, suffering and premature death for dolphins.”
The quotas for this year’s dolphin hunting season in Taiji, set by Japan’s Fisheries Agency, total 1,940 individuals, including 414 bottlenose dolphins, 450 striped dolphins and 400 pantropical spotted dolphins, according to Cetabase.
For more information, visit the IDOA website.
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