Why people still kill animals, like whales, dolphins, elephants?

kaving9: We should protect. Just and example: The Japanese Fishing Fleet operating in Australian Waters hauling sharks half way on-board and slicing their fins off before letting the shark slide back into the ocean.

The fins fetch a high price on the Japanese market for "Shark Fin Soup". Their LONG LINE and DRIFT NET boats which can put over board 60 miles of net to kill everything that crosses their path including Dolphins and Albatross. They are literally clearing the oceans of these species. They claim to kill whales for "Scientific Research" however the whalemeat just happens to turn up on the tables of expensive restaurants in Tokyo. The Norwedgians are no better in their determination to eliminate whales.

kaving9: check out: http://www.angelfire.com/ky/holywood/page8.html how is possible humans are so cruel with animals?? WE are animals too but smarter beacuse of that we should understand we can live in peace with other humans, animals and protecting our earth. :-D Come and write your opinion

DracusPrime: Well, the argument is that mink whales aren't endangered, but really, for as sick as our oceans are, we shouldn't be hunting whales or fishing for just about anything really in the ocean, besides some types of cod and 'grunts' in the Atlantic and Caribbean, we have way overfished just about every marine fish species that is generally considered 'edible', and crabs are going the same way.

Regardless of whether or not the population of mink whales is sustainable or not, the fact remains it is illegal by international law, there are some loopholes that Japan had been using to justify harvesting of large numbers of mink whales but just recently (like this week) they have called off their whaling operations and this means that as far as government sanctioned large scale whaling operations go, Norway is the only remaining country where this is happening.

I realize that you are trying to appeal more to the emotional aspect of animal abuse, and indeed it is despicable, I have worked with veterinarians as a veterinary assistant and have seen horribly abused animals, but beyond the abuse there is the issue of environmental impact and sustainability of industry that even the most jaded capitalists have to be aware of (although most are in denial).

As for the shark fin soup, Japan, although a country full of generally intelligent people, is notorious for rapping the oceans to feed its rapidly growing population. Far worse though is China (in general), the United States may be the highest consuming country per capita (and there is no doubt the US is the bad guy in that respect), I argue China is far worse than Japan and the US combined.

The Chinese government is even willing to obliterate historical monuments of ancient dynasties for dams and mining operations, so you can just imagine its regard for the environment is that much worse. Additionally, the traditional Chinese medicine fuels the black market for things like rhinoceros horns and hundreds of other body parts of endangered and threatened species, and in some instances is responsible for the introduction of invasive species when animals with medicinal properties are brought into a country to be farmed (like the Chinese population in Florida introduced the snake head which is now one of the greatest threats to America's freshwater ecology).

I don't mean to pick on China too much, they are one of, if not the worst but certainly every country on the planet is doing something that harms the environment.

Anyway, I wasn't sure where I was going to end up with all this exactly, but I for whatever reason your post got me going about the environmental impacts of industry and the worlds exploding population that I think everyone needs to be aware of. You don't have to be some nutcase vegan (like the real vegans that don't wear wool and are against zoos and pets and whatnot) to see that we are seriously shitting on our planet here. Even if you don't give a damn about that touchy-feely stuff, or animals feelings and somehow enjoy looking at miles of bare, lifeless concrete, the fact remains that our very atmosphere is sustained by the life on Earth (even the ozone layer that protects us from being cooked by solar radiation) and that it is something everyone NEEDS to give a damn about. There is my left wing PSA for the day .

kaving9: I totally agree with you!! and it's not easy that authorities of some countries and owner of many industries understand that if we dont care of our planet which is our home where we will we live? I liked so much your post