Animal rights activists proclaimed partial victory in its fight to end dolphin slaughter in Japan after a district court ruled on Friday that an aquarium in Taiji had no right to prevent an Australian woman from entering its premises.
The Wakayama District court in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture ordered the Taiji whale museum to indemnify Australian activist Sarah Lucas in the amount of ¥110,000 for barring her from entering the said area. According to Japan Times, Lucas, a member of Australia for Dolphins, initially sought ¥3.3 million in damages, arguing that the museum's action is tantamount to unjust discrimination and a violation of her freedom of thought and information.
In her complaint, Lucas stated that the Taiji whale museum refused entry to any person who "opposed whaling," particularly foreign advocates.
Lucas visited the museum to check on the condition of a baby albino bottlenose that has been kept captive since early this year. The baby dolphin, which the Taiji whale museum reportedly paid $500,000 to acquire, was reportedly detained in a crowded chlorine-filled water tank and was being attacked by other dolphins.
"This win proves the Taiji whale museum, the institution at the heart of the dolphin hunting trade, behaved illegally," Lucas said in a statement on Friday, as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald. "It also shows the Taiji dolphin hunts are not above the law, which means the Japanese legal system can be used to end the cruel dolphin hunts for good."
The town of Taiji gained massive public notoriety when it became the center of the critically-acclaimed Oscar-winning 2009 documentary "The Cove." The documentary showed footages of fishermen luring pods of dolphin into shallow waters before killing them.
The Guardian reported that the cruel method by which the dolphins were killed sparked widespread criticism against the government of Taiji and Japan.
An action launched by Australia for Dolphins against World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Waza) last year has intensified pressure on Taiji to stop the global dolphin trade, especially after Japan prohibited the procurement of live dolphins from the town to avoid expulsion from the organization.
