ALIVE Newsletter No.87Topic

Animal Welfare Activities without Borders

The defenders of dog meat in South Korea and whale meat in Japan claim that the food is part of their "culture". OK, let’s say this argument might has some merit. However I think it is also a person’s responsibility to reduce the pain and suffering when these animals are slaughtered as commodities. Nobody knows if the dogs in South Korea and the whales in the ocean feel pain or not. In fact, there is a South Korean myth that beating and torturing dogs influence the quality of meat. It is believe that it is better if the dogs struggle more. Once people in South Korea are informed about this reality, they often become a vegetarian.

In Japan, there is a type of fishing where fishermen throw sharp tipped spears into the backs of the swimming dolphins. The fishermen then pull, the almost dead dolphins with their body’s still studded with spear heads, behind their cars. The dolphins tumble on the streets experiencing a lot of pain. It is just horrible.

There are no borders when it comes to the pain of animals, thus there are no borders in animal welfare activities.

Fusako Nogami
Head of Publication and Editor