Animal Welfare Institute

PO Box 3650, Washington, DC 20027, USA

www.awionline.org

 

DOLPHINS?

WHY DOLPHINS MARCH AT THE WTO

 

Dolphins have been revered for millennia as a universal symbol for the grace and freedom of nature, and for their apparent empathy for human beings. Today, dolphins also symbolize the staggering loss of biodiversity— millions die in fishing nets, from intense sound and toxic pollution, and through violent captures to serve as captive entertainers for the tourist trade.

The predecessor of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), twice ruled that animal protection laws such as America’s prohibition against the importation of canned tuna caught by injuring and killing dolphins are illegal trade barriers.

Ministers attending the 1999 Seattle WTO meeting were met by hundreds of demonstrators dressed as sea turtles to protest WTO decisions against laws designed to conserve highly endangered sea turtles. Coverage of the demonstrations went worldwide, carrying the Animal Welfare Institute’s message that no treaty organization should have the power to erase animal welfare laws enacted by democratically-elected governments.

Hundreds of Mexican and international citizens are marching as dolphins during September’s WTO meeting to demand that, if there is going to be an international trading system, it must embrace the protection of the world´s creatures, their ecosystems and the sanctity of democratic rule.

Today, we march as dolphins. Dolphins symbolize the freedom of wild animals and the freedom of the people to enact laws to protect them. Dolphins also symbolize the power of corporations and trade pacts to demolish animal protection legislation. We demand that the WTO allow protection of the world´s wildlife and the humane treatment of animals.