Change in 2013

One week from today, President Obama's second inauguration will take place. These next 4 years are crucial for many issues that matter to global citizens, including animal rights. In a recent blog, I quoted Captain Paul Watson, and I'll repeat the quote here:

"If you want to know where you would have stood on slavery before the Civil War, don't look at where you stand on slavery today. Look at where you stand on animal rights."

In November, I wrote a letter to President Obama about the senseless dolphin slaughter in Taiji. Last month, I received a reply in the mail, and it was a generic response with no reference to the dolphins. I am doubtful that President Obama read the letter himself. Though I am disappointed in the content of the reply, a friend pointed out that my letter has been logged by the White House. Now we need strength in numbers. Quantity. Volume.

While I waited for a reply from the White House, a red cove day in Taiji prompted me to write to President Obama again, but this time I chose to use the WhiteHouse.gov contact form to expedite the communication process. I noticed that none of the categories available for the subject of the message pertained to animal rights.

I also noticed that the We the People petition website on WhiteHouse.gov did not have animal rights among its available categories.

So now I'm asking you to help me make change in 2013 by signing this petition. Let's get President Obama and his White House administration to add animal rights as a category for the WhiteHouse.gov contact form and We the People petition website. I decided to use Change.org as my online petition platform because with every signature, an e-mail automatically gets sent to President Obama about this very issue. I know we can make this change happen if everyone who cares about animals signs and shares this petition.

Let's do this. Thank you!
Allison

P.S. Need inspiration to sign my petition? Click here.

A Letter to President Barack Obama

A handwritten version of this letter is going in the mail tomorrow morning.

Dear President Obama,

Congratulations on your re-election as President of the United States. The results on Election Night gave me a renewed sense of hope for our country and our world. I have thought about writing you a few times over the past four years, but this letter that I write to you today is not about me. It’s about “a civilization of creatures who have never attacked us, who only show us kindness, and who have no defense against us: they are dolphins, porpoises, and whales.”*

A petition signed by over half a million people will be delivered to you, Vice President Biden, and the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. regarding the dolphins, porpoises, and whales that swim near Japan. These beautiful, intelligent creatures don’t belong to Japan. They don’t belong to anyone. They don’t belong in captivity. They do belong in the ocean.

They do not deserve to inhumanely die by human hands in Taiji's killing "cove."

And yet, this is happening in 2012 and will continue to happen unless we, the people of the world, do something about it. And we are.

Mr. President, I am asking you, as our World Leader and as the Voice of the People, to please work with the Japanese government to end the senseless slaughter in Taiji, Japan.

In your final campaign speech in Iowa, you said, “Don't let anybody tell you your voice can't make a difference.” I took your words to heart and am now using my voice to speak on behalf of the dolphins, porpoises, and whales.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, Mr. President. I know you have a lot on your plate – believe me, I know. But as Captain Paul Watson has said, "If the oceans die, we die! It is as simple as that and, thus, to me, there is no cause more important."

Let’s move the country forward, and let’s move the world forward. Please help stop the killing and live capture of dolphins, whales, and porpoises in Taiji.

Sincerely,
Allison Cabellon
New York, NY

*Quote from "I am a Cove Guardian." Please click here to watch.