At the circus Lydia Zavatta, one even « trains » humans

At the circus Lydia Zavatta, one even “trains” humans
09.11.2018
Queue en Brie
At the circus Lydia Zavatta, one even “trains” humans
Exploitation for shows

The circus people have struck again! Once again, one of our activist’s was assaulted while peacefully campaigning for animal-free marquees. The case took place in La Queue-en-Brie on October 24th. Violence against and against all seems to be the key word in the oppressors of wildlife. Violence towards and against everything seems to be the key word for this oppressor of the wild life.

Open-mindedness and dialogue are definitely not the strong point of some circuses. It must be said that when one has the habit of exercising one’s power over big cats, why stop there when confronting a defenceless woman, whose only protection is a camera and some disturbing questions?

An activist assaulted

Christine Laure (this is a pseudonym) one of our faithful activists, has suffered a bitter experience. It was on October 24^th, in La Queue-en-Brie (Val de Marne). Where the circus Lydia Zavatta had settled for a few days in this town, our sympathizer went on the spot to take a series of shots of the lions, tigers, camels, llamas, dromedaries, zebus and horses let to vegetate outside of the marquee.

Particularly moved by the stereotypical behaviour of the felines and appalling conditions of their detention. Christine then went to the store (a large toy store outlet) whose car park housed fairgrounds.  Her objective was to make the store aware of the plight of these animal hostages who are used in live shows. It went very badly … At the reception, she found herself face to face with two circus people, then a third who, according to her testimony, first outrageously insulted her when she asked them politely if It was conceivable to exercise their profession without the use of animals. Despite the flood of insults that rained down on her and the order to « clear off », Christine did not leave, she kept her ground. She reported that within five minutes, one of the men grabbed her upper arm and wrist violently to then force her out. The result of the operation: The filing of a complaint against the alleged aggressor and suffering from sharp pains with four-days unable to work.

Violence as a profession

The misadventure of Christine Laure is unfortunately not an isolated case. As recently as last September, other members of our team have also suffered brutality from different circuses in the city of Narbonne. Faced with such acts, it is clear that engaging in a semblance of constructive reflection with hardened advocates of mistreatment is an impossible task. Hostility and violence are customary within this environment. One only has to witness the state of absolute distress of these lions, tigers and other wild animal victims, hidden away in boxes between performances where they are to be transformed into clowns, to be otherwise convincing.

Arm wrestling

However, we are not relenting our efforts. Since it is a fight that must be fought, we pursue it. As peaceful warriors, but as warriors all the same. To save the lions and tigers owned by the owners of Lydia Zavatta, we therefore lodge a complaint against this circus and we will continue to campaign against all of these oppressors of the wild, the one’s called « tamers », for as long as they are there. You can help us in this fight by supporting our petition and as well as mobilizing you can contact your councils and supermarkets who still host these « entertainers » from a bygone. However, avoid direct confrontation if you value your wrists. The story of Christine Laure is a testimony to this.

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Pictures : Christine Laure

In the absence of a new delphinarium decree, One Voice attacks the State and demand 500,000 euros

In the absence of a new delphinarium decree, One Voice attacks the State and demand 500,000 euros
08.11.2018
France
In the absence of a new delphinarium decree, One Voice attacks the State and demand 500,000 euros
Exploitation for shows

Published on November 8th 2018 at 7:00am

Following the cancellation, for a procedural violation, of the so-called « delphinarium » decree of May 2017 which destined these parks to an unavoidable eventual closure in time, by prohibiting the reproduction in captivity and the exchanges and imports of new cetaceans, a new order was expected. After formal notice, One Voice attacks the State for misconduct because it refuses to republish an identical decree on the subject, and we claim €500,000 for moral damages. The present regulation, which is totally obsolete, dates from 1981.

In May 2017, Ségolène Royal then Minister of Ecology had adopted the so-called « dolphinarium » decree, which put an end to, among other things, the captive breeding of cetaceans, and prohibited the exchange and importation of new marine mammals, In the end, One Voice condemned the delphinariums to close. One Voice congratulated the position taken in favour of these animals.
But in January 2018, the Council of State cancelled the decree due to a technical detail: the decree had only been submitted to two public consultations. For the State Council, it would have required a third.
Between the cancellation and September 2018, Nicolas Hulot, Minister of the Ecologically and Solidarity Transition, however opposed to the captivity of the animals as he announced this on France Inter in August 2017. He did not publish the decree repeating the substance from the previous one about dolphinariums, despite the announcements and the repeated requests from One Voice and its partners (Sea Shepherd France, Cetacean-Networks, Dolphin Connection).

We called on the Minister of the Ecologically and Solidarity Transition to issue a new decree banning the reproduction and trade of cetaceans. Without a response from him, One Voice brought an action for misconduct against the State in the face of his refusal to take a new order. We ask the State 500 000 € for the moral damage caused by this deficiency. The state is at fault. From the moment he recognized that dolphins and killer whales were suffering, why did he not take a new order?

The decree regulating dolphinaria in France currently dates from 1981*. International scientific knowledge and animal rights in France have changed in 37 years!
The 500 000 € in damages claimed from the State will be entirely dedicated to the creation of a marine sanctuary to accommodate captive dolphins from dolphinariums.

*to which is added the specific section on cetaceans in the 2004
decree governing zoological parks.

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Maya’s second life

Maya’s second life
07.11.2018
Italie
Maya’s second life
Exploitation for shows

Freed from the circus thanks to the mobilization of citizens, Maya has started a new life, in Italy, under our attentive gaze and that of our local partners. She remains in captivity and fragile … but she is always in our hearts.

Free from the chains of the circus! No more caged trucks, the never-ending stop overs in parking lots, the silent but very real pain endured by this tired body. While noting her release, the French State did not hear of our association’s organization for the relocation of her into semi-liberty at a sanctuary located in France. The circus that held Maya was able to freely choose what will no doubt be her last home, an Italian zoo, close to circus networks and of which organizes shows with animals.

We are of course happy for her, we decided to follow Maya, to make sure that she was comfortable, refusing to forget her and the distance. Maya now lives in a Safari Park in Pombia, near Novara (Piedmont). The establishment proposes a concept of « safari » on this 45-hectare site with a network of paved roads from where the visitors can circulate by car to approach and view animals of the savannah in a semi-free state or visit the enclosures of some of other animals. This is now the case for Maya.

Our investigators were able to observe her and found that she was better off. Arriving exhausted back in the early part of summer, malnourished, crippled, with osteoarthritis and suffering from an infection on the right hind quarters, Maya has now more going for her. Fed by fresh hay, she can wander freely in her « domain », 5 000 m2 of sloping ground, equipped with a roof to protect her from the sun (but the climate of Lake Maggiore, nearby, is not that of Asia!). A concrete pool that gives her access to water. Maya plays with the earth she takes from the floor with her trunk and delightfully sprinkles her back with it. Yes, earth and no longer tarmac!

We observed a kind of pathway of large raised stones which reduced the space available, without much enrichment and especially that of the access to the stalls (a shed of 220 m2), where Maya could rest out of sight of prying eyes, but which is closed during the day.

The Safari Park of Pombia has welcomed on the Internet the arrival of Maya, its unique elephant, which accredits the usefulness of its association « SOS Elefanti Onlus », claiming an activity to safeguard Asian elephants. Entrance tickets are thus clearly intended to help finance this program … of which it is impossible to obtain concrete information. Claudio Aimone, its scientific director, has never answered our requests for information, any more than about the reason for barring access to the stalls during the day, a common practice in zoos, although it does not comply with the requirements of an animal’s welfare.

So, ever vigilant and supported by our Italian partners of the LAV, we will act to be enlightened on the choices of the type of framework for the second life of Maya. We asked an eminent veterinary expert, Dr. Willem Schaftenaar, adviser to the European Association of Zoological Parks, who had watched the videos recently filmed by our teams at the Safari Park. This is also the case for Prof. Donald Broom of the University of Cambridge, who found the conditions good and without any comparison with those experienced by Maya for decades in the circus. The opinions of these two experts have been attached to the letter we sent to the Italian Minister of the Environment. So that, both here and there, we should be better informed of the fate of these circus convicts becomes a common cause and not just the facts from the owners.

Maya suffers the consequences of a stolen life, exhausted by repeated transportations, the exhibitions in different places and the unsuitable facilities. While now she can regain a taste of the gestures that had been forbidden for decades during her circus life, she obviously had to rehabilitate herself, but especially to be surrounded by appropriate care, including her diet and her physical exercise. A very enriched enclosure, a floor full of sand where she can rest, a real possibility of tranquillity and out of sight in the opinion of specialists, is important to restore Maya, to soothe the physical and mental evils (stereotypy) which weigh heavy on her after a life that has been so hard. All this was relayed to the minister of a country that officially banned wild and domestic animals in circuses. Hope in Italy? here, we have to monitor, interrogate, debate and even fight …

Nevertheless, let us reflect and without moderation on this happier episode, which will not erase a life of misery, but for so many elephants, big cats and other wild animals having nothing to do whilst on the road and behind the bars of the animal circuses is a reality. Professor Broom and Dr. Schaftenaar both explain that stereotypical phycological damage is extremely difficult or impossible to cure. So even if the transfer to this park was not ideal, it will have made it possible to significantly improve her conditions of detention and even more to eliminate the trauma of homelessness: incessant transportation and changes of places. Our mail follows our close watch of Maya.Our letters of correspondence follow our close watch on Maya.

One Voice remains with Maya, will not leave her alone and will give news about her as soon as possible. Because her nature is remarkable: broken by 40 years of imprisonment she is now showing obvious, simple signs of new joy. A real sense of well-being after so much suffering is the least, we can offer her…

Femke, the last shows before closing for winter

Femke, the last shows before closing for winter
05.11.2018
Plailly
Femke, the last shows before closing for winter
Exploitation for shows

The last shows of the 2018 season at the Asterix park dolphinarium took place this weekend of November 3rd and 4th. It was only a few degrees above zero, and we are only in the autumn. Guama, Baïly, Beauty, Femke, Belize, Bahia, Aya and Cécil and the sea lions Gonzo, Kaï, Santo and Smack will find themselves locked up all winter in their tiny pools. In the freezing cold, Femke staring at the walls of her pool will stay there with the other dolphins and without Ekinox, her beloved son.

Saturday, November 3^rd, 5 ° C at Plailly. It’s eleven o’clock in the morning, and Femke and her companions who are in this misfortunate situation must participate in one of the last shows of the season. Exhibited thus, there to amuse the public and to perform for fish.

At the end of the season at the Asterix park, Femke seemed like « supercharged  » for the show, just to deceive the public who are unconscious of what is actually being played out before their eyes. The dolphinarium tells us about « handling ». For this last opening weekend of the year, Femke was put to work, solicited as ever before the stands, on which the freezing families sat trying to keep as warm as they could, the children bundled up under hats and scarves. But soon the show finished: the curtain. Once again, Femke became almost motionless on the surface, fixing her gaze sometimes on a plastic bottle or sometimes on the walls, her sadly sagging dorsal fin, a reflection of her life…

This year again, we never stopped to give warning about the personal story of Femke: her capture, her placing into a pool between four walls, her health problems, the separation from her little Ekinox, which is now two years, and her depression that followed… The management of the dolphinarium denies this evidence.

Yet since the spring, we have filmed her many times. The reports from internationally renowned scientific experts are alarming. She seems to have given up living in the full sense of the word. Out of sight, since last year, no sign of improvement of her psychological state. We launched a petition to have her reunited with her son, whose exploitation has just been recognized as illegal and that both are being transferred to a marine sanctuary. More than 113,000 people support us in this fight! We even went to the Prefecture of Oise to Beauvais so that the image of Femke are on display in front of the offices of the one person who has the power to remove her from the park. Our intervention in this public park at the end of a show this summer has made known her fate to a multitude of people and families who come to have fun. Children should not be made to believe that the place of extremely intelligent sentient beings lies in tiny pools and that their purpose is only to entertain us.

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One Voice also requests that a new ministerial decree be issued to organize the end of dolphinariums. Femke is dying from within, it is a silent drama of an abyssal depth. Even though the park is closed, we will continue to defend her, we have pressing charges for her!

Please sign our joint petition with Réseau-Cetaceans and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation and share the story of Femke!

The Greek zoo Attica Park fined 44360 €. Let’s demand its closure!

The Greek zoo Attica Park fined 44360 €. Let’s demand its closure !
27.10.2018
Grèce
The Greek zoo Attica Park fined 44360 €. Let’s demand its closure !
Exploitation for shows

In Greece, trained animal shows are forbidden. But at Attica Park, dolphins and including Ekinox sold by Parc Astérix after being torn from his mother Femke, were forced to perform under the hot sun. The zoo has just been fined 44360 €. We must go further and ask the authorities to close this park.

It took two years of campaigning and several complaints against shows using captive dolphins in the Attica Zoological Park in Greece for state inspectors to officially find that the park was in complete violation of Greek legislation with regard to these representations.

The report is without appeal. The park has worked without any authorization for 4 years between 2013 and 2017! But why would they stop there? Thus Article 13 of the Greek Law N.4039 / 2012 stipulates that « keeping animals in parks is allowed on condition that no show is organized with the participation of animals« . What would the inspectors note during their visit on November 3, 2016? And although for an additional € 3, visitors to the zoo could watch a dolphin show at 11:00 for 20 minutes. What could be more logical…?

Already, just a simple respect of the law did not seem to be a strong point of Attica, it was not necessary moreover to ask them to follow the
evolution of the law! Thus in 2014, when articles 12 and 13 of the law N.4039 / 2012 were modified, with article 12 thus taking the title of « It is prohibited to use any animal in any kind of exhibition and similar activities » , one should not expect the zoo to read the following prohibitions:

• 1
  – It is forbidden to keep any animal in a circus or variety show if the animals are used in any way whatsoever and for any reason in their program, during shows or when a walk or in front of an audience.

• 2
  – It is forbidden to use any type of animal in entertainment companies, car shows, music festivals, folk festivals or any other artistic or entertainment event if the animals are used in any way whether in their programs.

• 2a
  – Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 7, it is forbidden
  to present animals to the public for economic gain.

And besides what did the park say after the inspection? That the inspectors had « a misinterpretation of the law, and were biased » and provided « efforts to create negative impressions » and that in doing so there was no violation. The park also claims that since January 2017, no fees have been charged for the dolphin show, but only the price to enter the zoo. They should really have read the articles of law that concern them because this statement shows the for-profit nature of their activity and therefore the violation of presenting animals to the public for economic gain.

On our side, we congratulate Parc Astérix for tearing Ekinox from his mother, Femke, to be sold with another dolphin, little Naska, to this establishment that is trying so hard to break the law.

The Dolphinaria Free Europe coalition, of which One Voice is a member, will continue to support all attempts to get the Greek authorities to enforce the law banning shows with animals.

Demand the closure of Attica Park.

Send e-mails to the following person as well as to the Greek Embassy in Paris to urge them to enforce the law with immediate effect:

Mr Giorgos Stathakis

Minister of the Environment

secmin@ypen.gr

The Greek Embassy in Paris

Ambassador: Aglaia Balta

gremb.par@mfa.gr

This article is a free translation of the article published on the website of Dolphinaria Free Europe.

But where is Martinha, the dolphin saved then held in a tiny pool for a decade?

But where is Martinha, the dolphin saved then held in a tiny pool for a decade?
26.10.2018
Portugal
But where is Martinha, the dolphin saved then held in a tiny pool for a decade?
Exploitation for shows

A coalition, of which One Voice is a member of, made up of marine mammal advocates and experts, is asking for answers from the Portuguese government and an NGO to find out where Martinha is, a dolphin saved and then locked up in a private pool for ten years.

Martinha, a female common dolphin, was stranded on the Portuguese coast in September 2007. Her rescuers left her languishing in a swimming pool, whose water was reaching her waist for ten years. They have repeatedly promised Martinha’s rehabilitation and release to the sea, but there is strong reason to believe that she is still detained in conditions that seriously affect her well-being.

In 2014, Dr. Ingrid Visser, a New Zealand marine biologist and cetacean specialist, and Alexander Sanchez, a Spanish expert on cetaceans, including the rescue of dolphins, conducted an inspection. The report, following this visit, has raised many concerns about its living conditions. After these revelations, many scientists, marine mammal and conservation scientists, as well as NGOs from around the world, formed an informal coalition dedicated to Martinha’s well-being. The coalition demanded information on the release of Martinha and offered to help the authorities responsible for her care.

« In studying Martinha’s situation, we learned that the NGO Sociedade Portuguese da Vida Salvagem (SPVS) that had rescued him, had a second common dolphin named Barra, who shared the same pool as Martinha, » Alexander Sanchez said, member of the coalition.

« Unfortunately, Barra died after barely three years in captivity. This same NGO had, in the past, already saved a pilot whale, which was then transported to the Lisbon Zoo to perform in a show alongside larger dolphins. He too is now dead.  »

« This kind of intervention is extremely disturbing, » said Alexander Sanchez, « it’s not really about rescues, on the contrary, these animals are doomed to suffer for years. »

Martinha was not born in captivity. It is therefore the responsibility of the Portuguese Government. The Portuguese authorities and the NGO SPVS refused to reveal the exact location where she was detained. They did not confirm that she was still in the private pool, despite requests from the coalition.

Since August 2014, the coalition has continued to offer support to the NGO SVPS in order to independently assess Martinha’s well-being. They also proposed to provide a relaxation program and solutions to promote general well-being and improve the living conditions of Martinha.

In August 2016, despite many efforts to establish a dialogue, the NGO SPVS stated that the coalition had no reason to raise such doubts and certified the welfare of Martinha link to SPVS statement. However, to date, the SVPS has not provided any evidence.

« I have visited more than 30 structures around the world holding dolphins in captivity and the pool of Martinha ranks among the worst, » said Ingrid Visser. « Given the appalling conditions in which Martinha and Barra, who I myself witnessed, were detained, I was very disappointed to learn that the SVPS rejected all the help offered by world-renowned experts. »

The coalition is making continuous efforts to help Martinha. They contacted the Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas (ICNF), the Portuguese CITES Management Authority, as well as the body legally responsible for protecting Martinha and supervising her care. In February 2017, the ICNF responded that Martinha had the best possible medical care and conditions of detention in a newly built releasing facility. However, to date, no other information, including the location of this establishment, has been provided and all other requests have been rejected by the ICNF.

Martinha is a dolphin born in the wild and currently hidden by its « rescuers ».

« Today, we do not know where she is, what her physical and psychological condition is, whether she is held alone in captivity, let alone whether she is still alive, » Alexander Sanchez said. « For all these reasons, we have decided to make public our concerns, hoping that the public will lobby the ICNF and / or SPVS for more information on her condition. Of course, we continue to offer our expertise to improve the situation of Martinha and give her the most enjoyable life possible. Please sign and share this petition!

To receive information and news:

• Follow #WhereisMartinha (Twitter)
• Visit the site