09/02/11 Japan Dolphins Day
Animal Friends joins the international initiative Earth Island Institute marking Japan Dolphins Day
- Public screening of "The Cove" and handing out posters "Croatia – the dolphin friendly country?"
From October through April, Japanese fishermen start their dolphin hunt. Pulling a net they force the dolphins into shallow water, close the circle and drive them towards the coast, where they swim frantically. The fishermen then use hooks, harpoons and knives to pierce and pull them on deck. The dolphins suffer horribly and struggle while bleeding to death after the piercing, and some of them for hours listen to the cries of their fellow sufferers and swim in blood before being killed themselves. Every year, Japanese fishermen in this way slaughter 20,000 dolphins for processing into food and fertilizer. The surviving dolphins are being exploited in the "entertainment industry."
On the occasion of marking Japan Dolphins Day, Animal Friends are joining the "Save Japan Dolphins" campaign of the Earth Island Institute and will on Friday, September 2, 2011 at 8 P.M. on Trg kralja Tomislava in Zagreb, hold a public screening of "The Cove."
The whole-day info stall dedicated to Japan Dolphins Day is taking place on August 31, 2011 on Korzo near Kras store in Rijeka.
"The Cove" has won several prizes and it follows the story of Richard O'Barry, the former world famous trainer of the TV dolphin Flipper who realized that training dolphins was a mistake and that animals have a right to their freedom. Together with a team of activists, film makers and divers, he goes on a mission to break into the hidden Japanese cove and expose the truth of the "entertainment industry."
The Oscar awarded film is dynamic and in an exciting way leads us through the hidden side of dolphin training and the treatment of sea mammals in Japan.
Beside the free public screening of "The Cove," Animal Friends will on their stall hand out the free bilingual poster "Croatia – the dolphin friendly country?", which comes in Croatian and English language, suitable for educating both the Croatian public and foreign visitors. Interested schools and individuals can order a poster for free at www.animal-friends-croatia.com, while the DVD "The Cove" is available for a small donation.
Not only get dolphins killed by hunt for food and the entertainment industry, they are also victims of destruction of oceans due to overfishing. "Dolphins and other marine mammals more and more often lack their food. Mankind brought about a marine apocalypse on a scale never previously imagined in which thousands of species became extinct through overfishing," states The Times of London.
Animal Friends invites interested individuals to visit the stall and its web site to learn more about dolphin protection and how to help marine mammals through education, petition signing and changing their lifestyle.
Animal Friends also reminds that in Croatia it is prohibited to captivate any species of dolphin while dolphins in Croatia are protected species.
The organization Restart also joined this campaign by giving the rights for "The Cove" screening. Its trailer can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kig9TR6lM_s.
Rijeka
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Zagreb
![Japan Dolphins Day - Zagreb 1 [ 1.24 Mb ]](/data/image_3_6407.jpg "Japan Dolphins Day - Zagreb 1 [ 1.24 Mb ]")
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