Humane Society International: Action Alert - Amazon.com profts from slaughter of Whales

Japan continues to undermine international laws by hunting whales and trading in whale meat. These great whale species are afforded full legal protection by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and yet Amazon.com, through its wholly owned subsidiary Amazon.jp in Japan, is actively involved in the sale of hundreds of whale products. These products include endangered fin whale products from Iceland, as well as endangered whale meat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Some of the whale products sold by Amazon.jp are highly polluted with mercury and constitute a significant risk to the health of consumers. In February 2011, the Environmental Investigation Agency analyzed several whale products from Amazon.jp and found that the majority of those tested contained mercury levels exceeding Japanese national limits.

As Amazon.com Inc. profits from Amazon.jp’s sale of whale products, it is responsible not only for facilitating the sale of products from endangered and protected species, but also for allowing the sale of contaminated food products which pose a potential health threat to the people consuming them.

Please take action below and urge Amazon.com President & CEO Jeff Bezos to do the right thing by permanently and immediately banning the sale of all whale products on their websites.

YOUR MESSAGE

Subject: Please end the sale of whale products on Amazon.com Japan

Dear Jeff Bezos,

I respectfully urge you to use your influence to permanently and immediately ban the sale of all whale products on Amazon.jp. As Amazon.jp is wholly owned by Amazon.com, your company profits from the sale of hundreds of whale products and the disregard of two international agreements. The Australian government and parliament have repeatedly called on Japan to end these hunts.

These products are obtained through cruel hunting practices, and some even come from endangered species. Many of these products also pose a health threat to consumers because they are contaminated with mercury at levels above the Japanese national standard.

Amazon.com should permanently and immediately ban the sale of all whale products on Amazon.jp. This would directly benefit the world's cetacean populations as well as the health and well-being of Japanese consumers.

Sincerely

Your Name