This is a very good news . 
Our government is far from be the most eco-minded but at least they made something right , see the news below :
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DOLPHIN EXPORT FROM TAIJI, JAPAN, TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IS CANCELLED
San Francisco, California - The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition announced
today that the proposed export of twelve live dolphins ("the Taiji Twelve"),
from Taiji, Japan, to Ocean World theme park in the Dominican Republic, has
been cancelled.
"The Dominican Republic government should be applauded for their role in
stopping this cruel and inhumane dolphin import," stated David Phillips,
Director of Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project.
He continued: "The shameful actions of the Taiji Whale Museum are finally
being exposed to the world. More and more nations are realizing that buying
live dolphins from Japan is subsidizing the appallingly cruel dolphin drive
fishery."
"The people of the Dominican Republic should be proud of their President,"
said Susan Millward, Research Associate with the Animal Welfare Institute.
"By taking this stand, President Leonel Fernandez is preserving his
country's international reputation as a world leader in conservation and
custodian of its rich waters including the Silver Banks, one of the globe's
premier places to view cetaceans in the wild, where these gentle whales and
dolphins belong," she added.
"Canceling this sale is a very important step in shutting down the traffic
in live show dolphins from Japan," notes Richard O'Barry, Save Japan
Dolphins Coalition's Marine Mammal Expert and former trainer of the TV-star
Flipper. "We must not allow the Japan Fisheries Agency and those who
slaughter dolphins to profit from selling 'show quality' dolphins overseas
for millions of dollars. “
The so-called dolphin drive fisheries take place in some remote Japanese
coastal fishing communities from September until April each year. The
dolphin hunt is extremely brutal. Whalers take boats out to deep water
where the dolphins migrate. When they locate a pod of dolphins, they lower
stainless steel poles into the water and beat the poles with hammers. The
noise creates a wall of sound underwater and sets the dolphins into a state
of panic, which enables the whalers to drive the dolphins into a hidden
lagoon.
Once trapped in the lagoon, the dolphins are doomed. The whalers force them
into shallow water and, driving sharp fishermen's hooks into the dolphins'
bodies and stabbing them with butcher knives, they bleed the animals to
death. The dolphins take several minutes to die. As the water turns red
with blood, they thrash about in pain, emitting loud whistles and cries.
"This is the largest dolphin slaughter in the world, and the cruelest thing
that I have ever witnessed in my 40 years of working with dolphins," says
Richard O'Barry, "The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition has pledged to end
this hunt once and for all.â€
The slaughter of dolphins for meat is subsidized by the high cost of live
dolphins sold to aquariums and "swim-with-dolphins" programs around the
world. A dead dolphin is worth about $600 on the Japanese market for meat.
Live dolphins sell for $50,000 or more.
The campaign to stop the dolphin slaughter is a joint project of Elsa Nature
Conservancy of Japan, the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth
Island Institute, In Defense of Animals, and Animal Welfare Institute.
For further information:
http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org
VISUALS AVAILABLE: Video footage of the cruel slaughter of dolphins in
Japan is available on request. Call Mark Berman at Earth Island Institute
(415) 788-3666.X146
