Last night at the candidate forum, no one asked Rene Varela about the dolphin dealing. He was let off the hook. He has now been confirmed by the Palm Beach Post as the "best out of the six" to be Mayor of Lake Worth. A lot of us have often wondered how the Post knows anything about Lake Worth. The Post definitely ignored the information it had. The tragedy here is that the Post can have an influence on who leads our City by its endorsements, a newspaper editorial board that throws its weight around, not having a clue.
This came across my desk and it is too serious to ignore. Citizens have the right to know all the details regarding who may lead them. The following information is endorsed by the Animal Welfare Institute, Born Free USA, World Society for the Protection of Animals, Humane society International and others that say dolphin trafficking has and is happening. What we do know is Ocean Embassy was a part of the capture and shipment of dolphins to Dubai. Candidate Rene Varela is affiliated with Ocean Embassy.
We also know that "Dr. Varela was the vet with the American company that facilitated the export of wild caught dolphins in the Solomon Islands to a marine park in Dubai. His role was to check the dolphins to make sure they were healthy enough to travel" said Leigh Badgley, the producer of the Dolphin Dealer documentary.
Commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill asks the question, "How could this not be a campaign issue? What if he was trafficking drugs? Would that be a campaign issue? Why are animals any different?" She finds little difference.
Humane Society International wrote a letter on behalf of its 9.5 million members to oppose the capture of wild dolphins for public display regarding Ocean Embassy’s proposal for the dolphin park in Panama.
Dr. Mark Berman, Director, International Monitoring Program; Associate Director, International Marine Mammal Project Earth Island Institute, says, "the ad below ran in April 2008 and shows dead dolphins in a dump that were part of the group of dolphins captured for Dubai."
Link now working
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: David Phillips
(415) 788-3666 x145
April 2, 2008 Mark J. Palmer
(415) 788-3666 x139
(530) 758-6022
Stop International
Dolphin Trafficking
Coalition Sponsors Ad in
International Herald Tribune
(see attached pdf copy)
The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition and the Humane Society International are sponsoring a new advertisement in the International Herald Tribune today alerting the public that tourist shows with dolphins and swim-with-dolphins programs result in the killing of thousands of dolphins annually around the world.
In several areas of the world, including the Solomon Islands and the town of Taiji in Japan, fishermen hunt and kill dolphins for meat and/or teeth. Dolphin traffickers, working with aquariums and swim-with-dolphins representatives, use these massive hunts to pick out the “best” show-quality dolphins.
The ad notes that prices for wild-caught dolphins can reach $200,000 per dolphin, subsidizing the brutal slaughter of the rest of the dolphin pod left behind.
“The dirty secret of popular tourist shows with dolphins is that many dolphins die in the process of capturing a few for the dolphin market,” stated David Phillips, Director of the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute. “Tourists, when they swim with dolphins or watch a dolphin show in a tank, are unwittingly supporting the slaughter of dolphins in places like Japan and the Solomon Islands.”
The ad features a photograph of dead dolphins, tossed into a garbage dump in the Solomon Islands after they died in captivity, awaiting sale to an aquarium.
The ad calls upon governments to take responsibility and stop the cruel trafficking in live wild dolphins.
The ad is also running in the Solomon Star, Solomon Islands, and La Prensa, Panama.
The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, In Defense of Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute. In addition to the Coalition member groups and Humane Society International, endorsers of the ad include Born Free USA, Cetacean Society International, Marine Connection, and World Society for the Protection of Animals.
For further information on dolphin trafficking and the dolphin slaughter, go to:
http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org
No comments:
Post a Comment