Protest Japanese Dolphin Slaughter in Mill Valley this Saturday

[Guest guest]

Protest in San Francisco Area this Saturday, Dec. 13RALLY TO STOP THE

DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER IN JAPAN!

 

Rally at Corner of Miller Ave. and Camino Alto in Mill Valley, CA

Saturday, Dec. 13, 2003, 1:00 PM

 

A diverse group of children, the elderly, environmentalists, and concerned

people will gather together wearing dolphin and sea turtle costumes to

protest the annual Japanese " Drive Fishery " now under way, which kills over

20,000 dolphins and small whales per year. In the ³Drive Fishery² fishers

herd pods of dolphins and whales with disorienting loud noises into shallow

bays where they are slaughtered turning the sea red with blood, while others

are harpooned at sea. The meat is packaged and sold as a high-priced

delicacy in Japanese markets, despite tests showing the meat to be highly

contaminated by methymercury.

 

At 1:00 PM Saturday, people in dolphin and sea turtle costumes, and other

supporters with signs and banners will gather around a huge inflatable

dolphin in front of the Redwoods Retirement home. They will march down

Camino Alto to the Mill Valley Community Center and back to the Redwoods.

 

The rally is sponsored by San Francisco environmental organization EARTH

ISLAND INSTITUTE, and Mill Valley¹s IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS. In addition,

Members of the SEA TURTLE RESTORATION PROJECT, based in Forest Knolls will

join the rally to support the dolphins being slaughtered in Japan. All seven

species of sea turtles are listed endangered, including the critically

endangered Pacific leatherback which has declined 95% in the last 22 years

with numbers dwindling to fewer than 5,000. Dolphins and Sea Turtles will be

strong allies and make a spectacular show of marine solidarity together.

 

The rally is in support of the SEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY¹S

³INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST² held on Dec. 10th, in which protests were

held in front of Japanese embassies and consulates around the world

including San Francisco, New York, London, Rome, and Brussels. Sea Shepherd

has been filming the bloody slaughter in the whaling town of Taiji, Japan

since September. The pictures shown in the media have caused world-wide

outrage, but the killing goes on.

 

Please note that another colorful rally to protest the annual dolphin hunts

will take place in Mill Valley on Saturday. See press release below for more

details. Please also remember that while the weather forecast for Saturday

looks good, rain will cancel this event since the dolphin and sea turtle

costumes will be ruined in a downpour. If you have any questions you can

call Suzanne Roy of IDA on her cell phone at 415/269-4002.

 

 

CONTACT/ORGANIZERS: Michael Reppy, Earth Island, (415) 381-4232, cell (415)

686-0529

Suzanne Roy, In Defense Of Animals (415) 898-272 Email: sroy