A petition on Avaaz.org is calling on Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to block ships transporting whale carcasses from docking in the country’s ports.
According to the petition, which has 1.04 million signatures at the time of writing, both Finland and Germany have already closed their ports to ships transporting whale meat. As the Grapevine previously reported, and is mentioned by Avaaz, meat of the endangered fin whale is being shipped to Japan for use in dog treats.
According to Nanami Kurasawa, executive director of the Japanese conservation group IKAN, Michinoku Farms can afford to turn fin whale into dog food because the Icelandic company Hvalur hf. sells its catch at a cut-rate price. However the company has since announced that it will cease purchasing fin whale from Iceland, as it was not aware of the public outrage the purchase would cause.
Four European countries currently engage in whaling: Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. In Iceland only one company, Hvalur hf., hunts fin whales.
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