President Bush and Japan Prime Minister Koizumi greeted by Elvis singing “Don’t be cruel – stop whaling”

Don’t Be Cruel – to Whales
 
You know I won’t be found,
Swimming in the deep blue sea,
The Japanese are coming ‘round,
They’re going to harpoon me.
Don't be cruel to a whale that's true.

Baby, it makes me sad
My blubber’s not so tasty
Why treat whales so bad?
To risk extinction is crazy
Don't be cruel…
To a whale that's true.
Please don’t kill for blubber
Baby it’s the planet I’m… thinking of

IFAW U.S. Country Director Greg Wetstone said from outside Graceland: “It may take Elvis to deliver the message, but the reality is that we need to get serious about the growing threat of Japanese whaling. Japan’s whaling fleet will kill more than 1,000 whales this year alone. President Bush needs to tell the Prime Minister that whaling must stop once and for all. On behalf of our millions of global supporters our message to Prime Minister Koizumi is ‘Don’t be Cruel – to whales.’”
 
Despite a global moratorium on whaling set by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986, the government of Japan continues to hunt more than 1,000 whales a year as part of what it calls its government-run “scientific” whaling program. While the IWC has condemned Japan’s whaling practices, a loophole in its policy allows for lethal whale research. Japan sells the meat from its whaling operations to commercial restaurants and fish markets.
 
To make your voice heard in support of whales, visit IFAW’s campaign website www.stopwhaling.org today.

For media-related inquiries, contact:
Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell (IFAW, Headquarters)
Tel: +1-508-744-2076
Mobile: +1-508-737-1584
Email: jfm@ifaw.org