The second panel of the III Dominican Republic Global Film Festival took place on Wednesday November 18 at the National Theater, hours before the official inauguration

By Karla Astwood

The documentary film, The Cove, was shown prior to the panel “Threats to the Conservation of Marine Mammals” held on Wednesday November 18 in the National Theater, hours before the official opening of the III Dominican Global Film Festival 

This, the second morning thematic panel of the Festival, featured Dr. Osvaldo Vázquez, prominent researcher and conservationist working with marine mammals; Marcela Vargas, representing the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and Emy Rodríguez Rancier as moderator and coordinator of all of the Festival’s thematic panels.

The panelists’ presentations were based on the one-hour documentary which showed, in detail, the process of how fishermen slaughter dolphins for the fishing industry in the highly-visited area of Japan called Taiji

Students from the following schools filled the Eduardo Brito Hall to take part in the panel discussion: Politécnico Víctor Estrella Liz, Politécnico José María Velez, Liceo Vespertino Japón, Instituto Tencnológico de Artes y Oficios, Liceo Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Liceo Matutino Matías Ramón Mella, Colegio Adventista Metropolitano, Liceo Hilda Gutiérrez, Liceo Taiwán, Colegio Aurora Tavárez, Colapec and the Liceo Politécnico Profesor Simón Orozco.

The panelists talked about the importance of maintaining a watch over the care and protection of all animals. They used slides of different animal species in their daily habitats for the purpose of sensitizing the audience and dramatizing the situation in order to provoke a change of attitude on the issue.

Dr. Vásquez called on the students to develop a “positive attitude” toward animals. He used the technique of asking the students direct questions, mainly, on the nature of the humpbacked whale and then applauded those who knew the correct answer.

Marcela Vargas invited the students to go to the following webpage: www.losanimalesmeimportan.org and vote in favor of the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare and for its recognition by the United Nations (UN). “Animal welfare is the capacity of an animal to adapt to an environment, not just in terms of health but also its physical and emotional state,” she said.