Save Taiji Dolphins - end the annual drive fishery slaughter

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For more than four years, Ric and his wife Helene O'Barry have travelled to Taiji to document the dolphin slaughter and educate the world about why it should be stopped. Click here for thier recent weblogs…
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From the President of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums to the Membership:

June 1, 2006

Dear Colleagues,
It has been brought to my attention that the inhumane practice of collecting dolphins through drive fisheries operations is continuing. As you know the WAZA Council and membership passed a resolution at our annual general meeting in Taipei in 2004 condemning the capture of dolphins through “drive fisheries.” While the vast majority of its members are not involved, it would appear that at least several members of the JAZA have conducted “drives” and/or accepted dolphins captured by drive operations, specifically through the Teiji Dolphin Drive, which the Japanese government currently regulates.

I would remind all our colleagues to review the WAZA Code of Ethics & Animal Welfare. Our Code is quite clear in requiring members of WAZA to ensure that all of the animals in their care are treated with the utmost care and that their welfare should be paramount at all times. In addition to the animals in our care, our Code of Practice also addresses acquisition of animals for our institutions and specifically condemns cruel and nonselective methods of taking animals from the wild.

I will be writing to the Japanese Government directly to express WAZA’s condemnation of this inhumane practice and urging them to immediately terminate the dolphin drives. I shall, of course, also be writing to our colleagues at the Japanese Association of Zoos & Aquariums to enlist their support in ending the Teiji Dolphin Drive and any other such activities of this nature. I shall remind them that, as members of WAZA, it is in direct violation of the Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare, that they have signed, to accept dolphins collected by a drive fishery operation or to be in any way connected with dolphin drive activities.

Sincerely,

Karen Sausman, President
World Association of Zoos & Aquariums

COUNCIL: Karen Sausman, Palm Desert (USA) - President Jorg Junhold, Leipzig (Germany)
Ed McAlister, AO (Australia) - Immediate Past President Laura Mumaw, Melbourne (Australia)
Gordon McGregor Reid, Chester (UK) - President Elect Mark Penning, Durban (S. Africa)
Jeffery Bonner, St Louis (USA) Mark Reed, Sedgwick County (USA)
Jo Gipps, Bristol (UK) Ryszard Topola, Lodz-Miejski (Poland)