Femke, the authorities are still tackling her autopsy report...
After one year, we still have not received Femke’s autopsy report. After a letter to the Prefecture and an open letter to Parc Astérix, a request to the Committee for Access to Administrative Documents, who authorised us to obtain this document, and a reply from the park, we once again turn to the Oise Prefecture…According to the park, the Departmental Directorate for Protecting Populations (DDPP: the Prefecture’s veterinary services) have supervised all of the dolphinarium’s projects and the autopsy report is at their sole disposition. We request that the death of Femke is fully investigated and for this the Prefecture must be transparent. What are they waiting for?
Mrs Corinne Orzechowski
Oise Prefect
2, Avenue de l’Europe
BP 70634
60 006 Beauvais Cedex
Vannes, 4 February 2022
Dear Madam Prefect,
A year has passed since the dolphin named Femke, kept by Parc Astérix, was euthanised. To understand the circumstances surrounding her death, we requested in February 2021 that you let us have her full autopsy report. Faced with your silence and with the favourable recommendation of the Committee for Access to Administrative Documents, we have made a request to the courts for disclosure of these documents.
As part of this procedure, your services have indicated to us that they do not have this information.
We therefore withdrew our plea given that the law does not actually provide an explicit obligation for the owner to send this report to the Prefecture.
However, keen to understand the reasons for this action and to respond to queries from our members, we addressed the Director of Parc Astérix in an open letter. She responded to us on 20 January 2022, saying that Femke’s autopsy report was available at the Oise DDPP.
As you know, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) belong to a protected species on a national and community level, and are part of our wildlife heritage.
Due to their unique nature in terms of sensitivity, intelligence, and culture, cetaceans are also at the heart of recurring scientific debates on their skills and their status as non-human persons. Femke’s living conditions and her fate therefore transcend the question of ownership.
This is the reason why the data concerning the circumstances of her death must be known by the general public and is in their general interest.
This is why we are asking you once more to show transparency on this issue by sending us a copy of the autopsy report, which only you can be the recipient of.
We thank you for your attention to this letter and ask that you accept the expression of our highest consideration.
Muriel Arnal
Founding President of One Voice
Femke’s autopsy report: response from Parc Astérix
Translated from the French by Joely Justice