Finally, good news for all the dolphins in the water parks who, even if they do not come back free, at least will be able to avoid the added stress of having to swim with the public who go to see their shows. The Lazio TAR has in fact prohibited this possibility, as bathing with humans harms their health.
Finally good news for all Dolphins water parks which, even if they will not be free again, at least will be able to avoid the additional stress of having to swim with the public who go to see their shows. The Tar of Lazio in fact, it has forbidden this possibility, as bathing with humans harms their health.
After years of battles in favor of the aquarium dolphins forced, in some cases, in addition to performing in ridiculous ways also to swim with paying guests, a first victory has finally arrived. It has been ordered to stop the contacts between cetaceans and humans and there will no longer be the possibility even to appeal to the excuse that it is for educational purposes.
You will no longer be able to swim with dolphins as this particularly stresses the animals already forced to perform shows, to listen to loud music and to live outside their natural habitat in very small spaces.
The 4 pages signed by the judges of the Lazio TAR, who accepted an appeal proposed by the Lav-Lega Anti Vivisection, actually modify the decree with which it was allowed:
"Entry into the tank to those participating in public education and awareness raising activities on biodiversity with dolphins".
That is, the opportunity to swim with dolphins was passed off as something educational and even useful for raising awareness of biodiversity. The reality of the facts, however, is that it was pure fun for the guests of the water park, a way for the managers to have more attendance and therefore make more money but all at the expense of already severely tried animals.
Now only professional trainers will be allowed to swim with dolphins. The Tar has in fact agreed with the animal rights association considering that the decree went against the "principle of protecting the welfare of animals as sentient beings" and did not contemplate "the risks for the safety of both the public and animals".
The reactions of dolphinaria and aquariums
Hit to the heart in his business is precisely in Lazio, and precisely in Torvaianica, Zoomarine, a park that until today gave visitors the opportunity to swim with its 7 dolphins and take a selfie with a kiss to the cetacean. An original offer that earned him entrance tickets with prices starting from 99 euros.
Only Zoomarine's lawyers came to the court to defend the possibility of continuing their business even presenting:
"Observations by prominent representatives of the scientific community on the effects of the programs carried out in the structure, which not only would not have caused any damage to animal welfare, but would even have revealed, in their opinion, a new and enriching experience for dolphins".
After the ruling that saw the water park as the loser, Zoomarine declined to comment.
At the Aquarium of Genoa and the Oltremare of Riccione, however, these shows were already forbidden and the public could not, even before this sentence, feed the animals or even touch them. They have therefore shown themselves in favor of the novelty which essentially does not concern them.
Of course, although a step forward has been made, there is still a lot to do. Dolphins are wild mammals and would have the right to the freedom not to be in a pool or in any case in the confined spaces of an aquarium but to be able to swim free in the sea and that is what we wish them in the near future.
Here you can read the short sentence of the Tar concerning dolphins.
Read also:
- Removing the teeth of dolphins to let tourists swim with them: the horror that no one wants to tell you
- Victory for dolphins and whales: Canada bans keeping them in captivity in water parks?
- No more captive dolphins in Barcelona
