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January 23rd, 2014
12:58 AM ET

Is Japan's dolphin slaughter different from slaughtering cows and pigs?

The annual slaughter of dolphins in Japan's Taiji cove has ignited worldwide outrage. But what sets it apart from the slaughter of livestock for food? Dolphin activist Ric O'Barry of the Earth Island Institute weighs in.
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Filed under: AC360 Later • Charles Blow • Jeffrey Toobin • Mark Geragos • Richard O'Barry • Sunny Hostin
soundoff (9 Responses)
  1. furankustone

    There is no difference. Man sees animal. Man kills animal. Man eats animal. He never was meant to think about how clever the animal is or how cute they are. Meat is meat. Death is death. All these people who protest should start looking in their own back yard before putting their nose where it doesn't belong. Do places like India fly to the US to protest against cows being killed, kindly or not!

    February 26, 2014 at 12:37 am |
  2. Myrna

    If cows were wild intelligent animals. And farmers harrassed and treated them the same way as the taiji hunters treat dolphins. There would be outrage here and it would be stopped. Cows are commodities here dolphins are viewed as pests there and they have no problem treating them as such. And they will exterminate the dolphins if it's not stopped.

    January 27, 2014 at 7:43 am |
  3. Myrna

    All countries raise cows and pigs for meat. Including japan. Taiji terrorizes, harasses and has no regard for dolphins they are sentinent animals like humans are. It's known now how brutally they are treated. Dolphins are viewed as a nuance and big money maker when captured and sold to marine parks. It's completely different!!! Don't let them get away with saying it's the same.

    January 25, 2014 at 10:33 am |
  4. David

    There is no difference from a high level view. Being pedantic, there are differences much like every non-human and human animal have different characteristics, but it's fundamentally the same; it's the unnecessary killing of someone who wants to live as much as anyone.

    January 24, 2014 at 8:00 am |
  5. Lana Brooks

    The slaughtering technique used to slaughter a dolphin is VERY different from cows and pigs. It very cruel, it takes an average of 8 minutes for the dolphin to die. A rod is hammered into the blow hole. There is no humane way to kill a dolphin. So no it's not the same thing. There are slaughter houses that abuses animals, which is Illegal in the US. I'm a vegetarian and don't condone any animal to be killed but the dolphin slaughters is especially inhumane.

    January 23, 2014 at 7:43 pm |
  6. Andrea

    We used to consider keeping slaves as part of a "tradition" but we opened our eyes and it ended. The people that continue to condone the slaughters NEED to open their eyes. Selling these animals is in no way traditional, it is their way of getting money. Killing these dolphins is in no way acceptable. It is murder. There is no other way to put it. We have come a long way, changing and ending traditions to better the world. It is time Japan followed suit.

    January 23, 2014 at 5:48 pm |
  7. Gina dunnett

    Everytime I see these images it makes me sick to my stomach. How this can be compared to killing animals for food would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic. Don't dolphins contain high levels of mercury making them poisonous for human consumption?! knowing how intelligent these beautiful creatures are makes it all the more depressing their distress as they are aware of what is happening to them throughout this slow and torturous process. It is shameful and it needs to stop.

    January 23, 2014 at 5:43 pm |
    • Alvin

      People in different country's eat different things. It's not okay to eat and kill cows in India, so why do we do it? Let people eat what they want and don't judge them for it.

      January 27, 2014 at 10:49 am |
  8. Julie

    Thank you, Ric, for all that you do to help protect the dolphins. It is recognized worldwide and is appreciated by many.

    January 23, 2014 at 10:27 am |

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