Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
It must've been a terribly hard decision—whether to use 2.3 billion yen ($29 million) from Japan's tsunami reconstruction budget for, you know, tsunami reconstruction or to put it toward propping up the country's barbaric and widely condemned whale slaughter …. Well played flayed, Japan.
Written by PETA
Today, as Japanese fishers began stabbing dolphins with spears and cutting their throats with knives, PETA members, along with members of Earth Island Institute and Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project, marked "Dolphin Day" by gathering outside the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., to protest the annual slaughter.
Protesters screened graphic footage from the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, showing how fishers in the village of Taiji chase entire schools of dolphins into a cove, trap them, and slaughter them as they scream and struggle to escape. The water turns bright red with the dolphins' blood.
People in many other cities around the world today also protested the slaughter, which will claim the lives of up to 23,000 dolphins and whales over the next six months. The animals are killed because they are considered "pests" by the fishing industry, although a few are captured alive and sold to aquariums and swim-with-dolphins programs, where they will spend the rest of their lives confined to cramped tanks.
You can help stop this by contacting your local Japanese Embassy and demanding that Japan end the cruel slaughter immediately.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
PETA Asia senior campaigner Ashley Fruno has been in Japan helping many homeless animals, and she lent a hand at an animal shelter run by Animal Friends Niigata. Before returning home, she instructed the many new friends she had made to contact her if they needed anything. The following is her account of her last few days in Sendai:
I have left Japan, but my heart is still there. Up until the end, the smell of decaying flesh was still strong and undeniable in the disaster-stricken areas. We saw bodies being pulled out of a primary school last Friday, more than a week after the tsunami. My plane was full of people who were evacuating, and children were crying. We have a wonderful group of helpers in Japan who care about the animals caught up in this horror. We are so happy to support Isabella Gallaon-Aoki of Animal Friends Niigata. Isabella is a strong soul, and while others were afraid of a second tsunami, radiation exposure, and earthquakes, Isabella drove with me into the worst-hit areas and stepped into the ruins with me, searching for animals. We spent day after day searching for animal survivors, taking in animals who couldn't evacuate with their guardians and delivering dog and cat food and medicines to the evacuation shelters that were allowing animals. We met a kind and wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Sasaki, who was desperate to go into the affected areas but didn't have any gas. He called us for help and now has visited several evacuation centers. He is going to each of them one by one to provide treatment to injured animals and deliver food. On the first night in his hard-hit area, Dr. Sasaki put us both up (which we were so grateful for because we would otherwise have been spending another freezing cold night in our car), and his wife made a lovely vegan meal for us from the scarce amount of food that they had. Isabella is continuing to bring Dr. Sasaki more fuel and veterinary supplies, and we are helping with that effort. There is still much work to be done in Japan, and a PETA Asia volunteer, Ulara Nakagawa, is helping in Tokyo. Ulara is updating the Facebook pages of the local animal rescue groups with important messages about animals and supplies, and she is following up on tips about homeless animals as they come in. Although I have left, I am staying in touch with my new friends in Sendai—and PETA is helping them with additional food and supplies as needed.
I have left Japan, but my heart is still there. Up until the end, the smell of decaying flesh was still strong and undeniable in the disaster-stricken areas. We saw bodies being pulled out of a primary school last Friday, more than a week after the tsunami. My plane was full of people who were evacuating, and children were crying.
We have a wonderful group of helpers in Japan who care about the animals caught up in this horror. We are so happy to support Isabella Gallaon-Aoki of Animal Friends Niigata. Isabella is a strong soul, and while others were afraid of a second tsunami, radiation exposure, and earthquakes, Isabella drove with me into the worst-hit areas and stepped into the ruins with me, searching for animals. We spent day after day searching for animal survivors, taking in animals who couldn't evacuate with their guardians and delivering dog and cat food and medicines to the evacuation shelters that were allowing animals.
We met a kind and wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Sasaki, who was desperate to go into the affected areas but didn't have any gas. He called us for help and now has visited several evacuation centers. He is going to each of them one by one to provide treatment to injured animals and deliver food.
On the first night in his hard-hit area, Dr. Sasaki put us both up (which we were so grateful for because we would otherwise have been spending another freezing cold night in our car), and his wife made a lovely vegan meal for us from the scarce amount of food that they had. Isabella is continuing to bring Dr. Sasaki more fuel and veterinary supplies, and we are helping with that effort.
There is still much work to be done in Japan, and a PETA Asia volunteer, Ulara Nakagawa, is helping in Tokyo. Ulara is updating the Facebook pages of the local animal rescue groups with important messages about animals and supplies, and she is following up on tips about homeless animals as they come in. Although I have left, I am staying in touch with my new friends in Sendai—and PETA is helping them with additional food and supplies as needed.
To support PETA and PETA Asia's lifesaving work in disaster-stricken areas, consider making a donation to PETA's Animal Emergency Fund.
Homelessness can happen to anyone—be it a reigning beauty queen or a sweet family feline. That's the lesson that Blair Griffith, Miss Colorado USA, wants people to learn from her story. Just weeks after winning the Miss Colorado USA crown, Griffith found herself homeless. Her mother had suffered a debilitating heart attack years earlier, and the financial strain of mounting medical bills ultimately cost the Griffiths their home. They were able to move in with a friend, but Griffith's ordeal made her think about people—and animals—trying to survive on the streets.
In an opinion piece she wrote that was printed in Boulder's Daily Camera, Griffith says, "I have been fortunate to be the recipient of many offers of assistance since losing my home, but most of Colorado's homeless animals aren't so lucky. It's them we should feel sorry for. After all, an abandoned dog can't ask to sleep on a friend's couch for a bit, nor can a stray cat apply for social services."
Every day, countless animals find themselves homeless through no fault of their own. If you have the time, energy, and resources, you can help by opening your home to a shelter dog or cat.
Read Blair Griffith's complete opinion piece here.
PETA members gather outside the White House to urge the government to allow Americans to evacuate Japan with their animals.
PETA Asia-Pacific staffer Ashley Fruno spent the past week in Japan helping animal survivors of the devastating earth quake and tsunami. She encountered many families who were faced with the terrible decision of either staying in the devastated area or evacuating but leaving their companion animals behind to fend for themselves. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk wrote about their plight in the following opinion piece for The Huffington Post. You can help by sending a polite e-mail to the U.S. Department of State and asking them to please allow U.S. nationals to bring their companion animals with them when they evacuate Japan.
PETA's Ashley Fruno has been working in Sendai and the surrounding areas since the first flight into Tokyo after the tsunami. She is helping people who wouldn't go into shelters there because they can't take their animals and their animals are family to them. Stories of reunions abound. One man let his dog, Shane, out of the house, then ran to warn neighbors of the approaching tsunami. Before Shane's "dad" could return, the wave came crashing in. He feared that Shane was lost forever. A few days ago, Shane showed up, both elbows cut and bruised, at a school he had never been to before: the same school where his guardian was now living. Most Americans, like most Japanese, view their dogs, cats, and other animal companions as family members, and rightly so. Yet, the U.S. State Department is tearing apart families by forcing U.S. citizens who are evacuating the crises in Japan, Libya, and Bahrain to leave behind their dogs and cats. I thought that we had overcome that callous mindset after the nightmares of children being forcibly separated from their dogs and cats by the National Guard after Hurricane Katrina, but I was wrong. When riots broke out in Egypt last month, U.S. evacuees faced the agonizing choice between flying home to safety -- which meant leaving their animals to likely suffer and die in a hostile environment, alone and scared -- or staying behind and risking their own lives to remain with their beloved companions. Why would we do that to them? Only after PETA alerted our members and repeatedly urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to allow animals on U.S. government-chartered evacuation flights were some animals finally allowed on the last flight out of Egypt -- if they were small enough to fit in a carrier under an airplane seat. Too bad, Lassie, you'd have to eat dirt and dodge petrol bombs. U.K. citizens fleeing the Middle East and Japan have been allowed to take their animal companions with them on evacuation flights. The U.S. is not so civilized, and that's a blot on our national copybook. Obviously, the Department of State's policy against evacuating animals in crises puts both animals and the people who care about them in peril. In summarizing the lessons learned after the Hurricane Katrina rescue and relief efforts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that "... a lack of plans and resources to evacuate 'incidental' pets with their owners has been known for decades to be a primary reason why citizens will refuse to evacuate in the face of imminent life-threatening danger." Animals aren't any better equipped to survive an emergency than humans are. Few people missed the fact that after Hurricane Katrina, people died because buses and emergency shelters wouldn't allow their animals. Dogs and cats whose guardians abandoned them, sometimes at gunpoint, to "fend for themselves" slowly wasted away, terrified and delirious from dehydration or reeling from the pain of broken bones and infected wounds. Many once-beloved animals were shot dead in the streets by authorities. PETA's team of rescuers who were in the muck and grime, pried open house doors and padlocked gates only to find, in many cases, animals' carcasses. It was years ago that we first heard a president talk about a kinder, gentler nation, so why would it still be just that -- talk? Isn't it time to protect the most vulnerable members of our citizens' families? We've lived through enough disasters in recent years to know the devastation that results when evacuation policies force family members apart. It's time for the State Department to permanently change its official policy to allow all members of U.S. citizens' families -- no matter what size they are or how many legs they have -- to evacuate together when disaster strikes. Please, contact the State Department and raise hell.
PETA's Ashley Fruno has been working in Sendai and the surrounding areas since the first flight into Tokyo after the tsunami. She is helping people who wouldn't go into shelters there because they can't take their animals and their animals are family to them. Stories of reunions abound. One man let his dog, Shane, out of the house, then ran to warn neighbors of the approaching tsunami. Before Shane's "dad" could return, the wave came crashing in. He feared that Shane was lost forever. A few days ago, Shane showed up, both elbows cut and bruised, at a school he had never been to before: the same school where his guardian was now living.
Most Americans, like most Japanese, view their dogs, cats, and other animal companions as family members, and rightly so. Yet, the U.S. State Department is tearing apart families by forcing U.S. citizens who are evacuating the crises in Japan, Libya, and Bahrain to leave behind their dogs and cats. I thought that we had overcome that callous mindset after the nightmares of children being forcibly separated from their dogs and cats by the National Guard after Hurricane Katrina, but I was wrong.
When riots broke out in Egypt last month, U.S. evacuees faced the agonizing choice between flying home to safety -- which meant leaving their animals to likely suffer and die in a hostile environment, alone and scared -- or staying behind and risking their own lives to remain with their beloved companions. Why would we do that to them? Only after PETA alerted our members and repeatedly urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to allow animals on U.S. government-chartered evacuation flights were some animals finally allowed on the last flight out of Egypt -- if they were small enough to fit in a carrier under an airplane seat. Too bad, Lassie, you'd have to eat dirt and dodge petrol bombs.
U.K. citizens fleeing the Middle East and Japan have been allowed to take their animal companions with them on evacuation flights. The U.S. is not so civilized, and that's a blot on our national copybook. Obviously, the Department of State's policy against evacuating animals in crises puts both animals and the people who care about them in peril. In summarizing the lessons learned after the Hurricane Katrina rescue and relief efforts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that "... a lack of plans and resources to evacuate 'incidental' pets with their owners has been known for decades to be a primary reason why citizens will refuse to evacuate in the face of imminent life-threatening danger."
Animals aren't any better equipped to survive an emergency than humans are. Few people missed the fact that after Hurricane Katrina, people died because buses and emergency shelters wouldn't allow their animals. Dogs and cats whose guardians abandoned them, sometimes at gunpoint, to "fend for themselves" slowly wasted away, terrified and delirious from dehydration or reeling from the pain of broken bones and infected wounds. Many once-beloved animals were shot dead in the streets by authorities. PETA's team of rescuers who were in the muck and grime, pried open house doors and padlocked gates only to find, in many cases, animals' carcasses.
It was years ago that we first heard a president talk about a kinder, gentler nation, so why would it still be just that -- talk? Isn't it time to protect the most vulnerable members of our citizens' families? We've lived through enough disasters in recent years to know the devastation that results when evacuation policies force family members apart. It's time for the State Department to permanently change its official policy to allow all members of U.S. citizens' families -- no matter what size they are or how many legs they have -- to evacuate together when disaster strikes. Please, contact the State Department and raise hell.
Via Huffington Post
The first member of an international animal rights group to reach the disaster area, PETA Asia-Pacific senior campaigner Ashley Fruno has been in Japan with Isabella Gallaon-Aoki of Animal Friends Niigata since taking the first flight to Tokyo after the airport opened on Saturday night.
There are few signs of life in the hardest-hit areas, but Ashley and Isabella have encountered many citizens who have stayed in their badly damaged homes for days because many evacuation centers are not allowing companion animals inside. With countless people being forced to evacuate because of radiation fears and with animals being barred from many emergency shelters and flights out of the country, animal shelters like the one run by Isabella's group are being inundated with animals.
In all their media interviews, Ashley and Isabella have been urging people never to leave their animals behind—if conditions aren't safe for humans, they aren't safe for animals either.
In addition to pitching in at the badly overtaxed Niigata shelter, Ashley has been providing food to animals left behind by evacuees as well as to animals whose guardians are having a hard time getting supplies because of long lines of hundreds of people waiting to get into stores. She is also working with local veterinarians to rescue and care for the few surviving animals they are able to find.
Here's what Ashley has to say about her rescue efforts near the epicenter of the earthquake:
The tsunami ripped through the region with such force that cars were smashed into houses, debris was swept for miles through rice fields, and entire families drowned in their homes. In the hardest hit areas, we saw no animal life whatsoever. We did see some paw prints in the mud at one point, but they didn't lead anywhere, and we could not find any animals nearby.
When we first arrived in Sendai, gasoline lines stretched for miles and hundreds of people were lined up outside supermarkets to gather whatever supplies they could from the nearly bare shelves. We came upon a woman carrying her dog, a young sheltie who was terrified and stressed by the earthquake and aftershocks and the chaos that ensued. Tears came to the woman's eyes as she told us that she had risked her life for three days while staying in her still-shaking house because the evacuation center would not allow her to take her dog with her. She had finally been able to take her dog to a family member's home in an area of the city that had not been hit by the tsunami.
We spent several hours searching for the two dogs who appeared in a highly publicized You Tube video. One of the dogs appeared to be sick or injured, and his friend was protecting him. Someone gave us a tip as to where they might be, but it appeared to be inaccurate, as it seemed unlikely that anyone could have survived in the named area. We were relieved to learn later that both dogs had been rescued—the healthier dog is now in a shelter, and the sick dog is in a veterinary clinic.
Ashley and Isabella continue to visit the worst-affected areas in search of animals who need help, and they remain in touch with the volunteer relief center, city office, and prefecture office, which plans to set up a temporary shelter for animals in the northern part of the city. Ashley reports that the most pressing issue now is finding temporary housing for animals whose families are homeless or who have been forced to evacuate.
You can help by sending a polite e-mail or fax to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and asking the U.S. Department of State to allow U. S. nationals to take their animal companions with them when they evacuate Japan. You can also help fund Ashley's work and other rescue work by donating to PETA U.S.' Animal Emergency Fund, which provides grants to organizations that do rescue work, including our affiliate PETA Asia-Pacific.
The ferocious tsunami in Japan, caused by one of the largest earthquakes on record, surged several miles inland and claimed the lives of hundreds of people and countless animals. PETA Asia-Pacific is sending staffers to some of the hardest-hit areas along the eastern coast to offer aid. You can help animals in disasters by donating to PETA's Animal Emergency Fund.
The key to protecting ourselves and our animal companions in any kind of disaster is being prepared. PETA offers a tip sheet for animal guardians on how to prepare for any type of natural disaster that may arise. Tips include having an animal emergency kit ready, keeping all animal tags and records up to date, and having window stickers in obvious places on the front and back doors, alerting emergency responders to the presence of animals in the home.
We will give you more information about PETA Asia-Pacific's rescue efforts in Japan as it becomes available.
The Cove opened eyes and filled them with tears. Tonight, the sad saga continues with Blood Dolphins—a three-part miniseries based on the Oscar-winning documentary's exposé of Japan's gruesome dolphin trade and slaughter.
Blood Dolphins premieres tonight at 11 p.m. Eastern time on Animal Planet.
Also, if you haven't seen The Cove yet Animal Planet will be airing it this Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Please tell everyone you know to tune in to both. The official "killing season" will begin September 1 in Taiji, Japan ("The Cove"). Together we can change the tide. Please contact your local Japanese embassy and demand that Japan stop this bloody business.
Written by Amy Elizabeth
Animals across Japan are making a bid for freedom (hopefully, captive animals everywhere are taking notes). First, a dolphin who was being forced to perform stupid tricks for loud, obnoxious audiences day in and day out at Japan's Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium decided that he'd had enough. During a performance, he leaped over the side of his tiny tank. Unfortunately, he landed on the concrete instead of being transported back to his ocean home.
Then, earlier this week, 15 monkeys at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute (PRI) escaped from an enclosure (dubbed a "forest home" in news reports—yeah, right) by using tree branches to fling themselves over a 17-foot-high electric fence.
Sadly, freedom was short-lived for the monkeys as well. All the runaways were eventually recaptured. The head of PRI said that the monkeys didn't stray too far, probably because they wanted to be near the monkeys who were left behind.
Someone should listen to the SOS signals that animals in captivity are sending. Instead of keeping dolphins in chemically treated tanks and forcing them to "dance" for fish or locking monkeys in enclosures so that vivisectors can drill holes into their skulls, attach electrodes to their brains, and fasten small wire coils directly to their eyes to study eye movement (which is what some experimenters at PRI do), we should be leaving animals in the wild.
Please take action today to help us free captive marine mammals and put an end to senseless and cruel experiments on monkeys and other animals.
Written by Shawna Flavell
While U.S. residents watch and worry about the oil spill, a different kind of oceanic nightmare is brewing, one that will cause immense suffering and death for countless whales for many years to come.
On June 20, the International Whaling Commission will meet in Morocco to vote on a proposal to lift a 24-year international ban on commercial whaling for Japan, Norway, and Iceland—the three countries that have pretty much thumbed their noses at the ban. The Obama administration backs the lifting of the ban. Anyone who knows anything about the history of the ban—which has slashed the killing from somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 whales a year to between 1,200 and 1,700—is outraged that the president is going back on his election pledge to strengthen a ban and instead throwing the country's might behind lifting it.
We know some fascinating things about whales: Humpbacks create "bubble-netting" by blowing a stream of bubbles to surround their prey, and females form long-lasting friendships with each other. Many people know that sperm whales have the biggest brains of any living being, but did you know that they're able to dive more than a mile? Or that they communicate by clicking? Or that some scientists believe that sperm whales "are so self-aware that they might have begun to evolve a concept of religion."
We also know that if the whaling ban is lifted, whale families will be torn apart as more are slaughtered. Act now to help animals: Politely tell President Obama that you oppose the cruel slaughter of sentient beings. Then prove it by going vegan if you haven't already.
Written by Karin Bennett
Follow PETA on Twitter!
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.