 |
| A child watches dolphin at Batang Dolphin Center in Safari Park, Batang, Central Java. Hong Kong Airlines has pledged to end flights where live dolphins are transported in shallow tanks. (JG Photo/Ali Lutfi) |
Related
articles
- Australian Abattoir Shut Down Over Animal Abuse
- Court to Decide if SeaWorld Whales Are Illegal ‘Slaves’
- Australian Rips Head Off Kitten in Suburban Dispute
- Philippine Police Rescue Dogs, Raid Slaughterhouse
- US Man Gets10 Years for Choke, Sexual Assault on Dog
Hong Kong.
A Hong Kong airline has promised to stop transporting live dolphins after
coming under heavy criticism from animal welfare activists, conservationists
said on Wednesday.
More than
6,500 people have signed an online petition urging Hong Kong Airlines to stop
the business, revealed when an internal memo about a recent delivery from Japan
to Vietnam was leaked to Chinese media.
“Hong Kong
Airlines wishes to convey that it is a responsible member of the transport
industry caring for the future and environment,” the airline said in a letter
to animal welfare groups dated Wednesday.
“Since it
is believed that transportation of this nature can result in endangering
wildlife elsewhere, Hong Kong Airlines will immediately ban shipments of this
kind,” the letter stated.
A copy of
the letter was posted on US-based conservation group Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society Web site. Representatives from the group have written to the airline
denouncing the dolphin shipment.
Hong Kong
Airlines declined to comment.
“This
action should send a message to all airlines that the consequences of
transporting dolphins will result in such global negative publicity as to
affect a loss of business that will far outweigh any short-term financial gain
from the transfers,” Sea Shepherd Hong Kong coordinator Gary Stokes said.
The airline
has said it complied with government rules and the International Air Transport
Association regulations on live animal transportation during the January 16 delivery
of the five dolphins from Osaka to Hanoi.
The
dolphins are believed to have come from the Japanese town of Taiji, the scene
of an annual dolphin slaughter depicted in Oscar Award winning documentary “The
Cove,” said China Daily, which first reported on the delivery.
The leaked
memo said the flight earned 850,000 Hong Kong dollars ($110,000) in cargo
revenue. The China Daily report included a photograph of the dolphins lying in
shallow, narrow containers inside the belly of a Boeing 733F cargo plane.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.