Dolphins Don't Fly

Companies that participate in or facilitate animal mistreatment take a risk in having their activities backfire on them when the public gets wind of it.

And backfire it should. Hongkong Airlines learned that lesson the hard way after a leaked company memo mentioned the transport of five live dolphins from Osaka to Hanoi would net it HK$850,000 in cargo fees, and therefore was a business worth developing.

Dolphins

But when HongKongers found out the company was besieged with petitions and phone calls protesting the transport as the dolphins were believed to originate from Taiji, site of the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan, and were destined for aquariums in Vietnam. In other words, these dolphins were among the 'lucky ones' that escaped being herded into a cove and then getting a harpoon in the head.

By transporting the animals Hongkong Airlines is complicit in the massacre. If it wants to ship live dolphins it ought to do so with those caught through a more humane method. However that's not to say I'm a fan of dolphins in aquariums; capturing free-spirited creatures, cooping them in small tanks and training them to perform is cruel. Imagine someone grabbing you from your home, shoving you into an enclosure and then making you do tricks for food while thousands of people come to watch day in and day out.

So now animal welfare groups are threatening the airline with a boycott if it doesn't agree to stop transporting dolphins altogether. The company has responded that it is "very unlikely" to happen again, and promised to make a charitable donation as compensation. But "very unlikely" is not a commitment; it's code for 'we'll try again but work harder to keep it a secret because the money is too good to pass up'. Until Hongkong Airlines makes a firm decision, groups like the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Sea Shepherd, and the Humane Society International have promised to press the issue.

If you take the lowest fare on offer to Taiwan (HK$680) and do the math then only 1,250 people have to boycott the airline to negate the dolphin payday. The last I checked 6,400 people have signed an online petition, so a refusal to commit could force the company to admit it's bitten off more than it can chew.

Hit where it hurts.

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