Whaling is a cruel and immoral business

ICELAND has started commercial whaling again after 20 years of abstaining from this gruesome trade.

Their ‘rationale’ for doing this is that there are sufficient numbers of certain species to allow a return to whaling. This is to divert public opinion away from the truth that whaling is immoral, unethical and cruel.

There is no humane way to kill large mammals, except possibly by a massive dose of barbiturates.

As usual in issues of self-interest, Japan has acted as a law unto itself by finding a loophole to continue whaling. The ban should not apply because of a numbers game played by the International Whaling Commission — it should apply simply on the grounds of cruelty and morality.

The sad thing now is that other countries might use the Icelandic decision as a prompt to restart their own whaling operations.

Diane Richards-Hughes

Kilnamartra

Macroom

Co Cork