Dolphin mutilation

[Anomalocaris]

Would you be this outraged if a dead tuna washes up with the same signs of abuse?

Not to the same degree, much as I would be outraged over the cruel and needless killing of a farm animal over the squashing of an insect (the latter, not at all).

I''l freely admit that it's a result of cetaceans being more "like us" than fish. That the research suggests that cetaceans are highly intelligent and self-aware is, in my opinion, a good reason to afford them more protection under the law than we do to species that we harvest for food or consider pests.

Then I think the law would then need some consistent, legal, and measurable definition of what is the boundary for being sufficiently "like us", and apply it uniformly to all cases involving animals, and not make ad hoc, largely sqeamnishness based, examptions.