“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mohandes Ghandi
“All cetaceans as persons have the right to life, liberty and well-being.” Helsinki Declaration of Cetacean Rights, 2010. India, Costa Rica, Hungary, and Chile ban the capture and import of cetaceans for entertainment. Dolphins are persons, not performers.
The Dog Judges Humans
I heard today a story on the news
On India and mammals of the fin
And why you cannot now abuse
Imprison, train or capture a dolphin.
For sure they said with no recourse
A dolphin’s brain is just as able
As any man’s, and no excuse
Can be accepted or admissible.
How often have you ridden such a beast
And often it endured embrace and touch.
Did you seek admiration’s increase
But fail to view imprisonment too much?
There was a time in fantasy and myth
When love between the man and beast arose
And ended in a weird and ugly filth:
A minotaur, a hydra, all in woes.
Today we will ensure that freedom’s ring
Resounds throughout the world in which I lope
And four-footed friends and those of fin
Attain a personhood of greater scope.
Remember daily that we too endure
The harsh uncertainty of worlds in flux
And grant us thoughts, emotion, reassured
So we will measure you as you treat us.
No bird, nor dog, nor cat, nor mammal great
Will ever hunt or serve you on a plate.
