Stop the Killing of Boto River Dolphins in the Amazon!
- by: TakePart
- recipient: Honorable Ms. María Ángela Holguín Cuellar, Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Thousands of Boto dolphins are illegally hunted in the Amazon every year, mostly for bait to catch piracatinga catfish. During a hunt, dolphins are corralled into nets and harpooned by fishermen. The dolphins are then tied by their flukes to submerged trees, usually while alive, and left until the fishermen return to kill them. The pain and stress that these gentle and curious animals endure is unimaginable.
The Brazilian government has outlawed the sale of piracatinga catfish over the next five years owing to the link of this activity with the illegal killing of Amazon River dolphins. The government is now working with the national fishing industry to develop different ways of catching piracatinga. It has also committed to creating a governmental task force to protect the dolphins.
Now it's the turn of Colombia, the primary market for the piracatinga, to help save the river dolphin. We're urging Colombian officials, as we did in Brazil, to curb the sale of piracatinga and improve law enforcement to protect dolphins. We’re also asking Colombian supermarkets to stop selling the piracatinga fish and the Colombian public to stop buying it.
You can help TakePart and World Animal Protection end this cruelty. Please sign and share our petition.
The Brazilian government has outlawed the sale of piracatinga catfish over the next five years owing to the link of this activity with the illegal killing of Amazon River dolphins. The government is now working with the national fishing industry to develop different ways of catching piracatinga. It has also committed to creating a governmental task force to protect the dolphins.
Now it's the turn of Colombia, the primary market for the piracatinga, to help save the river dolphin. We're urging Colombian officials, as we did in Brazil, to curb the sale of piracatinga and improve law enforcement to protect dolphins. We’re also asking Colombian supermarkets to stop selling the piracatinga fish and the Colombian public to stop buying it.
You can help TakePart and World Animal Protection end this cruelty. Please sign and share our petition.
To: Honorable Ms. María Ángela Holguín Cuellar, Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), a cetacean that lives in the rivers of the Amazon basin, is under threat. It has been systematically hunted down and killed in a cruel way, and its population is falling at a rate of 10 percent annually.
This happens because the meat of the river dolphin is being used as bait to catch the piracatinga catfish, a fish exported primarily to Colombia, where it is sold deceitfully as “capaz” or “capacete”—another species. Unknowingly, the Colombian consumer is indirectly promoting the killing of river dolphins in the Amazon.
The Brazilian government has taken the first step toward ending the illegal killing of river dolphins. Starting in January 2015, the fishing and sale of the piracatinga catfish will be prohibited throughout Brazil for five years.
But we know this is not enough and that this fish may continue to be sold illegally in Colombia, which has acknowledged the public’s call for change and has shown interest in helping find a solution to this problem. While we appreciate the initiative of the Colombian government, we urge it to make a stronger commitment to achieving real change for dolphins.
For this reason, I request that you, in your capacity as minister of foreign affairs, take urgent measures to resolve the international problem of killing river dolphins by offering a response in line with the one taken by Brazil of suspending the sale of piracatinga catfish.
The sooner this is done, the more lives of river dolphins we can save in the Amazon. Lend your support to ending the cruelty to the Amazon River dolphin by prohibiting the sale of piracatinga catfish in Colombia.
[Your comment here]
Sincerely,
[your name here]
Sign PetitionSign PetitionThe Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), a cetacean that lives in the rivers of the Amazon basin, is under threat. It has been systematically hunted down and killed in a cruel way, and its population is falling at a rate of 10 percent annually.
This happens because the meat of the river dolphin is being used as bait to catch the piracatinga catfish, a fish exported primarily to Colombia, where it is sold deceitfully as “capaz” or “capacete”—another species. Unknowingly, the Colombian consumer is indirectly promoting the killing of river dolphins in the Amazon.
The Brazilian government has taken the first step toward ending the illegal killing of river dolphins. Starting in January 2015, the fishing and sale of the piracatinga catfish will be prohibited throughout Brazil for five years.
But we know this is not enough and that this fish may continue to be sold illegally in Colombia, which has acknowledged the public’s call for change and has shown interest in helping find a solution to this problem. While we appreciate the initiative of the Colombian government, we urge it to make a stronger commitment to achieving real change for dolphins.
For this reason, I request that you, in your capacity as minister of foreign affairs, take urgent measures to resolve the international problem of killing river dolphins by offering a response in line with the one taken by Brazil of suspending the sale of piracatinga catfish.
The sooner this is done, the more lives of river dolphins we can save in the Amazon. Lend your support to ending the cruelty to the Amazon River dolphin by prohibiting the sale of piracatinga catfish in Colombia.
[Your comment here]
Sincerely,
[your name here]
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