Captain Paul Watson. (Collage by Beth Clifton)
Watson will remain in Greenland prison until September 5; cat trial suspended even longer
NUUK, Greenland; SAN DIEGO, Calif.––British Prime Minister William Gladstone declared in 1868: “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Be that as it may, the two courtroom dramas that would have attracted the attention of animal rights activists in mid-August 2024 have been postponed until September.
Canadian-American conservationist Paul Watson, detained in Nuuk, Greenland, since July 21, 2024, on a 15-year-old Japanese arrest warrant for allegedly interfering with whaling, must wait until September 5, 2024, to learn whether he will be extradited to Japan.
(Collage by Beth Clifton)
“Return-to-field” test postponed to mid-September
In San Diego Superior Court, the Pet Assistance Foundation’s lawsuit against the San Diego Humane Society, alleging that its “return to the field” approach to cat control constitutes illegal abandonment, was again stayed until mid-September.
The case, originally scheduled for July 17, 2024, is intended to draw a legal distinction between controlling the feral cat population through neutering and release and the now common practice of simply returning seized cats – whether tame or wild – to where they were found in the hope that they will find their way home on their own.
Paul Watson was taken away by the police.
(Captain Paul Watson Foundation photo)
Why Paul Watson is in prison in Greenland
Paul Watson, 73, now a legal resident of France, co-founder of Greenpeace in 1971 and founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1977, has been sailing under the flag of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation since his expulsion from Sea Shepherd in mid-2022.
(See “PIRATE! Captain Paul Watson goes down with the sinking Sea Shepherds” and “Rebuilding Neptune’s Navy: Captain Paul Watson after his time with Sea Shepherd.”)
Watson was arrested by Danish police who were flown in from Denmark for his arrest just moments after his ship, the John Paul DeJorialanded in Nuuk, Greenland for refueling.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, as are the Faroe Islands, where the Captain Paul Watson Foundation uncovered the massacre of 138 pilot whales in a shallow bay in June 2024.
Paul Watson and his younger son Murtagh.
(Facebook photo)
In Japan he faces a 15-year prison sentence
Omar Todd, executive director of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, initially attributed the arrest to a complaint from the Faroe Islands, but within an hour told the media that “Paul faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison in Japan.”
“The Greenlandic judge mentioned that Paul could not be released on bail because he had fled from house arrest in Germany in 2012. Therefore, there was a risk that he would flee.
“The court does not know how long the Justice Department’s deliberations will take,” Todd said, “so it has set this tentative date for August 15, 2024.”
(See: Paul Watson arrested in Greenland; may be extradited to Japan.)
(Collage by Beth Clifton)
Defense may not present evidence
However, on August 15, 2024, according to a Facebook post by Captain Paul Watson, Watson appeared in court “after nearly a month of detention at the Anstalten Detention Center, one of the most remote prisons in the world,” only to be informed that he is still considered a flight risk “and will continue to be detained until September 5 while the Danish Ministry of Justice investigates the case.”
“Paul’s legal team was unable to present evidence related to the Japanese allegations,” the Facebook post said, “as the judge was only reviewing the extradition request and not the underlying charges.”
Ric O’Barry, left, demonstrates on behalf of Paul Watson. (Photo by Dolphin Project)
Ric & Helen O’Barry demonstrate for Watson in Denmark
Founder of the Dolphin Project and former Pinball Meanwhile, coach Ric O’Barry and his Danish wife Helene Hesselager O’Barry led demonstrations in Denmark, calling on the Danish government to reject the Japanese extradition request.
O’Barry, 83, had a similar experience to Watson a decade earlier.
Arrived in Japan on August 31, 2015 to attend an annual vigil against dolphin hunting in Taiji, the subject of the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary. The BayO’Barry was arrested almost immediately in the town of Nachikatsuura, near Taiji, for allegedly violating the Immigration Control Act by not carrying his passport.
Ric O’Barry in Taiji.
(Photo by Dolphin Project)
Ric O’Barry lived in a Japanese airport
After lengthy and allegedly cruel interrogations that blatantly violated international law, O’Barry spent several weeks with the volunteer observers in Taiji and then left Japan to lead a series of demonstrations in other countries.
When O’Barry returned to Japan about six months later, he was “interrogated several times and placed in a deportee facility that resembled a prison” upon arrival at Narita International Airport.
Eventually released on a deportation order, O’Barry lived at the airport for two weeks, eating whatever vegan food he could find at the airport’s 7-Eleven convenience store and trying to sleep on chairs in waiting areas, Helene Hesselager told O’Barry. ANIMALS 24-7.
Japanese lawyers Megumi Wada and Takashi Takano eventually obtained a ruling on O’Barry’s behalf in a Tokyo district court allowing him to return to Japan and even to Taiji after being barred from entering the country for three years and eight months.
(See “I will return,” Ric O’Barry tells Taiji after the torture.)
Attorney Bryan Pease represents the plaintiffs.
(Collage by Beth Clifton)
Cat trial in San Diego enters third month
On the other side of the world, in San Diego, the cat control “trial of the century” has been underway since 2021, potentially determining the fate of feral and found cats in California and perhaps throughout the United States and the world for years – and perhaps centuries – to come.
However, before a verdict can be reached, the trial itself must be concluded. So far, only the hearing of some witnesses has begun, and cross-examination is still pending.
Kate Hurley of the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the University of California, Davis campus, and Lynde Nottebaum, an employee of the San Diego Humane Society, spoke at the court hearings in mid-August.
Walt Disney tests a Mickey Mouse drawing on a cat.
What it is about
Both the Pet Assistance Foundation and San Diego Humane advocate the use of trap-neuter-vaccinate-release methods to control the feral cat population, commonly referred to as “TNR” or “TNVR.”
“TNR” or “TNVR” was introduced by Walt Disney Inc. in 1955 to control feral cats at Disneyland, and has been popular throughout the United States as a method of feral cat control since about 1990. It was also introduced by the Blue Cross of India in 1966 as a method of controlling the stray dog population.
It has now become the preferred method for controlling street dogs in many parts of the world.
It is about the “Return to Field” strategy, introduced less than twelve years ago by Kate Hurley and promoted by the no-kill foundation Maddie’s Fund and the Best Friends Animal Society.
Beth & Merritt Clifton with friends.
Many of the cats released through return-to-field programs are tame and friendly and often do not cope well when being re-acclimated to the lifestyle of truly wild cats, which have usually lived their entire lives as wild animals and have neither a need nor desire for anything from humans.
