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End The Dolphin Slaughter In Taiji Now!

59,368 signatures toward our 75,000 Goal

79.16% Complete

Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site

Dolphins are still being brutally slaughtered in Taiji, Japan, while the government does nothing. Help save these animals!


The mass slaughter of dolphins continues in Taiji, Japan. Bottlenose dolphins are the prime target, their meat sold as a culinary delicacy and their bodies sold as amusement park entertainment.

Fishermen herd dolphin pods into the notorious Cove using poles stuck into the water, which they bang on with hammers, producing a wall of sound. The frightened dolphins in the Cove are then surrounded by nets, where representatives of captive dolphin facilities and international dolphin brokers will choose a few to grab for a lifetime of captivity1.

Terrified and exhausted, the dolphins are then systematically bludgeoned to death.

By the end of each 6-month hunting season, which lasts from September to April, close to 1,700 dolphins are killed for slaughter and dozens more are sold into captivity. The dolphins can take up to 30 minutes to die by suffocation or drowning2. According to Richard O'Barry, an animal rights activist featured in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary about the slaughter, "The Cove," these dolphins are capable of killing themselves when under extreme distress3.

The brutality affects any and all marine mammals that make their way into the Cove. Nursing mothers and their babies aren't spared. Yet the fisherman from Taiji say the community's livelihood is dependent on the trade2.

In recent years, dolphin hunters have turned to trading live dolphins, potentially making up to $48,000 per animal, while a slaughtered dolphin only brings in $4803. The pandemic has seen that trade drop off, but the yearly slaughter continues to turn the waters of Taiji red with blood. These hunts are no longer driven by the need for sustenance, or tradition, but rather the desire to profit from the exploitation of natural resources4.

The Japanese government has the ability to condemn this barbaric event and punish those who participate. But thus far — with tens of thousands of dolphins killed in the last few years — they have done nothing about it.

Sign the petition asking the Japanese government to prohibit the dolphin slaughter once and for all!

More on this issue:

  1. The Dolphin Project (2021), " Taiji's Dolphin Hunting Season Has Come To A Close."
  2. BBC (2 September 2019), "Taiji cove hunt: Japan starts controversial dolphin hunt."
  3. Hanako Montgomery, Vice, (2 March 2021), "Japan's Global Dolphin Trade Still Kills."
  4. The Dolphin Project (2021), "Taiji, Japan "The Cove."
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The Petition:

Dear Prime Minister of Japan:

I am appalled that you have continued to allow the dolphin slaughter that takes place in Taiji starting every September. Every year thousands of dolphins are slaughtered by Japanese fishermen in order to keep the fish populations plentiful and to sell the dolphins' meat. The fishermen employ brutal methods for killing the dolphins. When the slaughter commences, they lure the dolphins into a cove from which they cannot escape. They then throw spears at the dolphins and stab them.

Some of the dolphins are taken to zoos and aquariums where they will live out the rest of their lives in captivity.

Population control is simply no excuse to brutally murder these beautiful and majestic creatures. I find it appalling the dolphin slaughter has been allowed to continue for this long and beg you to reconsider your support of it. Please cease to support this inhumane act.

We need to advocate for these animals if we hope to end this disgusting act of violence before any more precious dolphins are killed for no good reason.

Sincerely,

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Updates:

"The Cove" follows a high-tech dive team on a mission to discover the truth about the Taiji, Japan dolphin capture trade. See the trailer below and spread the word about the annual travesty in Taiji.

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Signatures: