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Barcelona Considers Freeing Dolphins From Captivity

Barcelona Considers Freeing Dolphins From Captivity

BARCELONA CONSIDERS FREEING DOLPHINS FROM CAPTIVITY

30,000 PEOPLE URGE CITY-WIDE DOLPHIN BAN IN DECEMBER

Contact:
Toni Frohoff, Ph.D., toni@idausa.org, (805) 836-0496
Fleur Dawes, media@idausa.org, (415) 448-0048
Images: http://bit.ly/BarcelonaDolphins

Barcelona, Spain (October 27, 2016) – In Defense of Animals has joined an international coalition urging the city of Barcelona, Spain, to ban dolphin captivity, and retire four dolphins currently held at ageing and inappropriate facilities at the Barcelona Zoo. International experts and thousands of people around the world have called for the dolphins to be relocated to a sanctuary, as the city heads towards a December decision on whether to expand or shut down its dolphinarium.

“The people of Barcelona clearly recognize that putting dolphins on display in tanks for their entire lives, until the day they die, is archaic and inhumane,” says In Defense of Animals President, Dr. Marilyn Kroplick. “We call on Mayor Colau to make Barcelona a global leader in dolphin well-being by declaring Barcelona a captive cetacean-free city. Shutting down the Barcelona Zoo dolphinarium and retiring the dolphins to a seaside sanctuary will set a vitally important example for the rest of the world.”

The ‘Aquarama’ dolphinarium is located within the Barcelona Zoo, and currently holds four dolphins, since two were recently transferred to a facility in Valencia, Spain.

The zoo was the first in Europe to open a dolphinarium back in 1960. In 2018, the aging facility will violate new minimum animal welfare standards set by the European Association of Aquatic Mammals.

Former Barcelona Mayor Xavier Trias previously approved around $15 million for upgrades to the dolphinarium to bring it into compliance. In the face of strong and growing opposition to captive cetaceans, the new administration headed by Ada Colau is reconsidering the project.

Deputy Mayor of Ecology, Urban and Mobility, Janet Sanz has questioned whether the city should have a dolphinarium at all.

Retirement options are now being considered for the dolphins, with many hoping that the money set aside for the facility’s expansion will be used to build a retirement facility instead.

“We urge Barcelona to be on the right side of history by allowing the dolphins to retire and live out their lives in a more natural environment in a seaside sanctuary,” says Dr. Toni Frohoff, cetacean scientist at In Defense of Animals. “The money earmarked for facility expansion would be much better spent in developing a sanctuary for these intelligent and sensitive animals who have evolved for millennia to live in the sea.”

The zoo, the city council and members of the public have long acknowledged problems with the dolphinarium. In response to concerns for the dolphins, all live dolphin performances were stopped in 2015, in an attempt to present dolphins in a more natural way.

A petition spearheaded by FAADA (Fundación para el Asesoramiento y Acción en Defensa de los Animales) has now garnered nearly 30,000 signatures of people who want to see the dolphinarium shut down and the dolphins sent to sanctuaries: www.adeudelfinari.org/en.

Many countries around the world have put measures in place to ban cetacean captivity and recognize them as highly intelligent, sensitive beings who can be painfully aware of their imprisonment.

The positive trend is spreading across the U.S., with the National Aquarium in Baltimore recently announcing that it is looking into retirement options for dolphins currently languishing in its own tanks. Last month, California banned the breeding of orcas. This year also saw the launch of the Whale Sanctuary Project, which aims to create sanctuaries for orcas and beluga whales in North America. All signs indicate that cetacean captivity could soon be a thing of the past.

“We have known for years that cetaceans are physically and psychologically affected by captivity, as any human would be,” says Dr. Frohoff. “It is very encouraging to see Barcelona taking these issues seriously, and we urge the city to make the right decision by freeing the dolphins from their captive suffering.”

The City Council has now committed to making a decision on the dolphins’ fate in December.

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In Defense of Animals spearheads the campaign to free cetaceans from captivity, and earlier this year launched In Defense of Animals list of the 10 Worst Tanks for dolphins and whales. http://www.idausa.org/10worsttanks

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 30-year history of protecting animals’ rights, welfare and habitats through education, campaigns and hands on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi. www.idausa.org

IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS • 3010 KERNER BLVD. • SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901 • 415-448-0048

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