Vegetarian Star

Paul McCartney has given his support to an anti-whaling campaign that urges the Norwegian government not to lift a 25 year ban on commercial whaling.

McCartney said, “It’s time to end the cruel slaughter of whales and leave these magnificent creatures alone. In the 21st century how can we even contemplate killing whales – or any animal – in such barbaric ways? Governments should act on their responsibilities and protect these beautiful creatures.”

The International Whaling Commission is preparing to vote soon on the proposal to lift the ban and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), along with partners Norwegian Society for the Protection of Animals (Dyrebeskyttelsen Norge) and NOAH – for Dyrs Rettigheter, have released footage of a video which they believe demonstrates a need to keep the ban in place.

The video shows a minke whale being harpooned by a Norwegian vessel called Rowenta, which failed to ensure the whale was dead over the course of 22 minutes.

WSPA New Zealand’s Country Manager Bridget Vercoe said: “This film clearly demonstrates that whaling is crude, unreliable and inhumane. My colleagues even witnessed ‘Rowenta’ firing a second harpoon into a minke whale more than two hours later. It’s therefore possible that this whale suffered from horrific harpoon wounds for more than two hours before finally dying. This is not the way we’d expect a modern and civilised society like Norway to treat animals and certainly not something that the IWC should consider legitimising.”

Norway, Japan and Iceland are three countries that would be affected by the ban lift. The countries currently get around the legal loophole by claiming to hunt whales for research purposes.

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