What do you think of the Japanese Whalers in the Southern Ocean?

Do we have the right to tell them not to whale? Why are whales not allowed to be killed but cows and pigs are? Just because our culture does not eat whales doesn’t mean other cultures shouldn’t.

I get very angry when people who usually preach acceptance and diversity show that they have no clue what they are talking about when they complain about whaling.

Why should the Japanese not be allowed to kill whales? Why do you feel differently about the death of a whale and the death of hundreds of thousands of cows?

Personally, I really think whaling stinks. There really isn’t a painless way to kill whales, they generally die slowly and painfully. The whole thing is rather awful.

However, I feel pretty much the same way about the deaths of many other animals. Chickens and ducks are often cooked whilst alive, sometimes when livestock are slaughtered to feed us, it takes them minutes to die. Pigs which are bred to make your delicious bacon and ham are tortured for their entire lives. They are locked in tiny cages filled with shit and hundreds of other pigs. They can’t move, they can’t do anything except eat and be forced to have sex. Chickens are put in batteries to make your meat and eggs. They have their beaks and claws sliced off, and they are so crowded and stressed that they rip each other’s feathers out, and sometimes kill each other.

All of this is far more disgusting than whaling, so why single whaling out? How many whales are the Japanese killing? Is it anywhere near the number of pigs that the western world torture every day? Nope.

The Japanese whalers probably should not have been ramming the protest boats, but hey, put yourself in their shoes… you are doing your job, and you are constantly followed by a bunch of screaming intolerant people who take every opportunity to get in your way, wouldn’t you be a little pissed off? Ramming the boat was not the right thing to do, but the protesters also (in my eyes at least) are not doing the right thing.

They have not yet determined who caused that crash. It looks as if the protester pulled in front of the whaler and slowed. Depends on the angle. It is still being investigated so you are not correct in saying “intentionally rammed.”

Also the comments by @jackm & @randomness are both spot on.

I always think the whales have it better than most livestock, at least they live free and happy in their own element until they are killed. That cannot be said about factory farmed animals, they have no life, they are abused, overfed and then killed, usually not mercifully.

I am a carnivore but I would like to see all living creatures treated with dignity and then killed mercifully. That is the humane and honorable way.

whales aren’t bred like cows so it isn’t the same is it? whale hunting is an anachronism, it is a decadent choice of cuisine, find a substitute. Japan can live without whalemeat.

@mammal – Yes, whale hunting is an anachronism. The question is what can we do about it? Stop buying Toyota Priuses? Or Canon cameras?

@mattbrowne no. just offer moral support, at the very least, to those who feel it totally inhumane and unnecessary to cause a large and complex social creature such a torturous route to the dinner table.

@mammal – I don’t understand your position. Are you saying that if whales were bred for a food source then it would be acceptable to eat them?

I also don’t understand your dismissal of the atrocious practices used in factory farming, is it acceptable for them to suffer horribly their entire lives just to feed people. Why is it decadent to eat a whale but not a cow.

Someone should make a movie called “Free Bessie the Cow” perhaps then folks would reach the conclusion that cows (chickens, pigs, sheep) are as “cute” and worthy as whales.

Interesting answers! As a vegetarian, I also agree that the slaughter of cattle and sheep and pigs is inhumane. However, they do not seem to suffer to the extent that whales do, because of the nature of their slaughter.

The Japanese seem to think that the world is stupid, believing that it is really scientific research. That is just a lie, to support their atrocities. I heard a maritime expert interviewed the other day, who said (after reviewing video of the incident) that the Japanese ship changed course to ram the protester boat. I am not normally a supporter of protest groups, but the Japs have left little alternative in this case.

I don’t particularly care if it is part of Japanese culture- they can change their culture, and leave the whales alone.

I am Japanese-America. I understand if they like to eat whales. But if current global trend or opinion is that eating whales are evil, they should stop. I understand Japanese culture, but that is kind of old history. If global civil think that is not cool, they should eat something meat, instead of whales. I have heard my grand parents used to eat it. I just found whale can for eating, such as Ham. This item is twenty years ago. Humm pretty interesting. http://bit.ly/gwXYdV