Whales - part 2
A month ago, I stood on my soapbox with all my paws to write about whales.
Since then, the International Whaling Commission has met in Ulsan, Republic of Korea.
Thankfully, the agenda of the Japanese Government fell short of their expectations and the commonsense of most members prevailed.
That said, we should address the claims of the Japanese Government, purporting to support their right to kill whales. This is what the Japanese Government said in their press kit under the guise of the Institute for Cetacean Research for the IWC meeting:
The total protection of all whales irrespective of their stock status as promoted by some members of the IWC and some environmental and animal welfare organizations is contradictory to Japanese cultural values where whales are viewed as a food resource and where whales are still revered through religious ceremonies and festivals. This is particularly so for those communities where the local peoples lives have depended on whaling activities.
I trawled through the press and only found one article in support of Japan's position - see Japan Times article - by Melanie Burton. Ms Burton provides very lame arguments in support of the Japanese government's position, one particularly spurious one on environmental grounds - the production of animal protein (beef cattle production vs whale meat).
I didn't engage in the cultural rights argument last time I wrote about this, but I will now.
Going back to the 'we've done this for thousands of years' argument, just because something was done a thousand years ago, or indeed twenty years ago, does NOT make it right. There were many cultures which engaged in cannibalism, some even recently, but that does not make it a cultural right or culturally acceptable.
Whales, just like Antarctica, do NOT belong to a single nation, for them to do as they wish.
........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo........
My human stayed home today with me. He's still unwell, but seems to be a little better. I napped on his lap most of the day (except when he got up), and at one stage we both had an afternoon nap. So nice, I wish he could do this everyday. Today was also a cold, wet and miserable day as well.
keisercat@wildmail.com
Since then, the International Whaling Commission has met in Ulsan, Republic of Korea.
Thankfully, the agenda of the Japanese Government fell short of their expectations and the commonsense of most members prevailed.
That said, we should address the claims of the Japanese Government, purporting to support their right to kill whales. This is what the Japanese Government said in their press kit under the guise of the Institute for Cetacean Research for the IWC meeting:
The total protection of all whales irrespective of their stock status as promoted by some members of the IWC and some environmental and animal welfare organizations is contradictory to Japanese cultural values where whales are viewed as a food resource and where whales are still revered through religious ceremonies and festivals. This is particularly so for those communities where the local peoples lives have depended on whaling activities.
I trawled through the press and only found one article in support of Japan's position - see Japan Times article - by Melanie Burton. Ms Burton provides very lame arguments in support of the Japanese government's position, one particularly spurious one on environmental grounds - the production of animal protein (beef cattle production vs whale meat).
I didn't engage in the cultural rights argument last time I wrote about this, but I will now.
Going back to the 'we've done this for thousands of years' argument, just because something was done a thousand years ago, or indeed twenty years ago, does NOT make it right. There were many cultures which engaged in cannibalism, some even recently, but that does not make it a cultural right or culturally acceptable.
Whales, just like Antarctica, do NOT belong to a single nation, for them to do as they wish.
........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo........
My human stayed home today with me. He's still unwell, but seems to be a little better. I napped on his lap most of the day (except when he got up), and at one stage we both had an afternoon nap. So nice, I wish he could do this everyday. Today was also a cold, wet and miserable day as well.
keisercat@wildmail.com
Labels: whales
posted by Keiser at 21:30
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