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ARCHIVED - Animal activists demand closure of dolphin parks in Spain
More than 120,000 signatures have been collected for the closure of Spain’s “brutal” dolphinariums
A campaign launched by Change.org to request the closure of Spain’s dolphinariums has already collected almost 120,000 signatures and while activists await the opportunity to formally debate the “animal prisons,” supporters are looking at ways to improve the conditions of captive dolphins.
Spain has one of the largest numbers of dolphinariums in all of Europe but these parks are popular worldwide. They often allow visitors to swim with the animals and put on spectacular shows where the dolphins display impressive tricks. However, activists warn that the reality for dolphins is very different from what the public perceives: the animals ‘perform’ because their food depends on it and are often forced to live in cramped tanks 200,000 times smaller than their natural range in the wild.
Although July 23 is the official date dedicated to the protection of these marine mammals, the Foundation for Advice and Action in Defence of Animals (FAADA) chose Monday the 4th as a commemorative day for captive dolphins.
Spain currently runs 11 out of the 30 dolphinariums in Europe and along with Japan, China, the US, Mexico, Russian and Ukraine has the dubious honour of holding the most facilities worldwide. They are distributed between Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic and Canary Islands, Andalucía and Madrid.
The experts argue that, while dolphins display “a lot of intelligence and feel emotions” at a similar level to humans, they are prevented from developing proper social relationships in captivity and need far more space to thrive than their enclosures allow.
Instead, "these relationships are made artificially for specific interests" which leads to "a brutal sensory limitation" for animals and leads to the appearance of multiple illnesses such as stress, skin and eye or digestive problems.
Incredibly, a 15-year-old Barcelona girl, Olivia Mandle, has spearheaded the campaign to shut dolphinariums once and for all and have the animals moved to marine sanctuaries and recovery centres.
She has gathered thousands of signatures with the help of the Parliamentary Association for the Defence of Animal Rights (APDDA) and plans to present the petition to the Senate.
According to the FAADA SOS Dolphins, there are currently 102 dolphins, three belugas and five killer whales kept in captivity in Spain.
>>> You can sign the petition at the Change.org website <<<
Image: Change.org
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