Media Release
21 August 2009
Broome must cut ties with Japanese dolphin slaughter
Animals Australia is calling on the West Australian Shire of Broome to sever its sister-city
link with the Japanese coastal town of Taiji – the site of the world's largest dolphin slaughter.
During the annual slaughter, large pods of dolphins are herded into a secured cove where
unable to escape, they are speared or stabbed to death.
23,000 dolphins are killed in Japan every year with Taiji hosting the biggest slaughter – to
commence on September 1.
"Footage obtained in Taiji of this mass slaughter is sickening and distressing. The water
literally turns red with the blood of terrified dolphins as they are brutally butchered. Broome
must sever its sister-city ties with Taiji immediately, and through doing so, support
international efforts to have this appalling carnage stopped," said Animals Australia's
Executive Director Glenys Oogjes
International dolphin expert and former trainer Richard O'Barry has been in Broome this
week seeking the support of the Broome Shire. O'Barry, of 'Flipper' fame, has been at the
forefront of the campaign to stop the Japanese dolphin slaughter. The internationally
lauded documentary The Cove, set to open in Australian cinemas next week, reveals the
extraordinary efforts of O'Barry and his team to document the Taiji dolphin slaughter.
Ms Oogjes continued;
"With the full carnage that occurs at Taiji being revealed through the documentary The Cove
-- international pressure will fall on Japan to end this slaughter. Broome is in a unique
position to influence this decision by suspending its sister-city ties with Taiji pending their
commitment to stop this brutal slaughter.
"Broome is part of a large regional community that prides itself on providing a safe haven for
marine mammals. To maintain sister-city ties with Taiji is therefore not only highly
inappropriate, it could be seen as providing their tacit endorsement of the unspeakable
cruelty to dolphins that occurs there."
Media comment:
Glenys Oogjes 041 4312552
Animals Australia Inc. 37 O’Connell Street, North Melbourne 3051
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