Animal testing: the State is giving the green light to experiments mutilating dolphins

The experiment that is being prepared in the waters of the Réunion with the blessing of the Ministry is unacceptable.

Groups of dolphins could soon be targeted, followed, and shot with a sampling arrow which will go into their dorsal fin to tear off a piece of flesh. You can easily imagine all of the risks in terms of the stress caused and the physical injuries with such an attack. Those who started this project do not seem to be overly concerned about it. They actually predict that “ the potential injuries will be managed as far as possible by the veterinarian and members of the organisation in charge of animal welfare”. How are they going to treat the dolphins that they are going to seriously terrify? By following them? By capturing them? The so-called testing experiment in itself is already shocking, but obviously it might not stop there. They will be left with their injuries and the risks that will inevitably follow.

Mutilating dolphins to kill fish more easily

The purpose of such treatment has nothing to do with any concern for the dolphin populations involved. This would not be justifiable to us even if that had been the case. But in this case, the project aims to obtain a “global vision on the food chain on this level of the marine ecosystem” to “inspire recommendations for conservation and sustainable management of these species on a local scale”. In other words, to make it easier to catch thousands of fish!

How many dolphins are involved?

Aside from our anger, the mention on the research project that only one dolphin would undergo these biopsies alerted us. Indeed, how can you conceive of taking 124 skin biopsies from five species of dolphins from one single animal? We have therefore written to the Ministry to express our indignation for this project and to obtain clarification on this figure. The error was ‘in the process of being corrected’. This was on 24 March. On 6 April, the erroneous information was still online... And we have not received any response to our request for this kind of project to no longer be accepted other than silence which says a lot about the State’s interest in animals. And as always, that which is morally reprehensible is not necessarily possible to contest legally. This is unfortunately what has come from our legal analysis of this project.

Gifted with great intelligence but also with complex language and a very rich social life, dolphins are far from being able to benefit from preferential treatment, however. Already collateral victims of fishing, or of captivity in dolphinariums where they are exploited until their deaths, now they must also go through the process of animal testing. It is really not good to be a dolphin in 2023.

For them as for other animals, we will continue, relentlessly, to sound the alarm and inform the population of these experiments authorised in France. We are counting on you to pass these alerts on, because these repeated scandals cannot continue being carried out indefinitely in silence.

Consult our dedicated site where you can find data from the Ministry of Research on animal testing exposing the extent and the gravity of these procedures for animals.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice