Archives: News

Croatia bans fur farms!

Croatia bans fur farms!

Croatia bans fur farms!
03.01.2017
Croatia bans fur farms!
Fashion

A new victory in the fight against fur! After Japan in November, it is the turn of Croatia to ban fur farms, becoming a fur free country!

A new victory in the fight against fur! After Japan in November, it is the turn of Croatia to ban fur farms, becoming a fur free country!

The 2006 Fur Trade Prohibition Act came into effect as planned on 1 January 2017 in Croatia. Breeders have benefited from a 10-year period to reconvert. And the ultimate political attempt to maintain chinchillas was indignantly rejected by the citizens.

Very happy, members of Animal Friends Croatia, the main local players in this fight, decided to take cakes to the Minister of Agriculture in charge of law enforcement. Partners in their fight, One Voice had investigated hidden camera in chinchillas breeding. We had filmed the great suffering of these soft animals killed by electrocution, and contributed to the awareness of the Croatian public.

This beautiful development echoes that what was obtained in Japan in late November: the last mink farm in Otsuka closed forever. Now under the law on the prevention of invasive alien species – raccoons have left bad memories in the archipelago – no more fur farms will be able to open. The Land of the Rising Sun has joined the ranks of the nations – the Netherlands, Great Britain, Austria, and others – who have renounced the fur farms and the senseless cruelty they imply.

These two victories show us that with the support of public opinion and policies, we will succeed in building together a better world for animals. In this regard, One Voice is particularly pleased to be part of the 40 organizations of the Fur Free Alliance whose constant work around the world is gradually changing consumers’ perception of fur.
Behind the silky coat of mink, beyond the silvery reflections of a fox tail collar, people now see the cages, the wounds, the babies trampled on the wire floors and the skinned corpses thrown into the air like waste.

A fur-free world is possible and the news coming from Japan and Croatia can only bode well for the coming year.

Dolphins, France against history

Dolphins, France against history

Dolphins, France against history
22.12.2016
Dolphins, France against history
Exploitation for shows

The Ministry of Ecology is preparing to revise the decree on dolphinariums, not to ban them as requested by One Voice, but to encourage dolphin battery farming. The few changes to be made are just a smoke screen. Enough is enough!

On November 24th 2016, One Voice had been received by the ministry regarding this subject. We brought our investigation reports, supported by the opinion of world-renowned scientists. We had been pleading for the end of this toxic industry. But the text has just been approved.

It is a shame because this decree is only a ridiculous update of a text 35 years old. It ignores the ethical advances and scientific discoveries that disrupt our view of the animal world, including a clear shift in public opinion against these pools of prison.

How can we still, in the 21st century, exhibit captive cetaceans in an aquatic circus arena?

Innumerable scientific research reveals to us today that the dolphin is endowed with a prodigious intelligence, cultures and self-awareness. The mere fact of keeping these animals born for the vastness of the ocean and to be locked up is in itself a major abuse.

What could be crueller than to deprive them of the complex social life that is the essence of their happiness, of any decision-making opportunity, of any sensory stimulation, of any long-distance group voyage or of any deep dive to the ocean bed?

The fact that there are five shows a day instead of three, three pools instead of two and a scientific committee charged with the idea of “enriching” their environment – with more balloons and rubber hoops? – This can never compensate for the lack of freedom.

The draft decree however intends to perpetuate this practice by producing “dolphins for shows” as a production line

They would like to make us believe that the born-captives are “domestic dolphins” who have miraculously adapted to the dreary life in these pools, and in less than two generations. The dramas of Lucille, killing a baby and Galéo covered with wounds, the little Aïcko, died despite of our appeals; show us enough evidence that this is not the case.

At the same time, the public has stopped being fooled

Because of their intrinsic cruelty, dolphinariums have been banned in India and banned in 14 European states. In Finland, the only dolphinarium closed due to lack of spectators. The phenomenon is now affecting the Netherlands.

Throughout Europe and the United States, a fundamental movement fuelled by social networks, documentaries and widely disseminated scientific information, is leading consumers away from these cruel spectacles. In France, an IPSOS survey conducted for One Voice on December 19th 2016, tells us that most French people are in favour of banning dolphins and orcas shows. 62% believe that cetaceans suffer from stress, 60% from boredom and depression. Finally, for more than one in two French persons, dolphins and orcas are unhappy in captivity.

In September, One Voice had already issued a warning about the content of the new decree, denouncing the policy on reproduction.

The international coalition Dolphinaria-Free Europe is now supporting us by denouncing the tentative planned developments that only validate the principle and future functioning of marine parks. But these seriously affect the individual freedom and dignity of dolphins, slaves who are forced to perform until their death. It is an insult to their sophisticated cultures, dialects, and hunting techniques to believe that balls and hoops or even contact with their trainers could actually “enrich their environment” and replace the incredible richness of a free life at sea.

Because it is impossible to really improve a dolphinariums, unless you turn it into a marine sanctuary or better still return to the ocean. In the United States, we are already preparing for this inevitable deadline. While a sanctuary in Canada is preparing to host captive orcas in 2017, the Baltimore Aquarium announces that it will move its dolphins into a closed bay in the Caribbean before 2020. In Spain discussions are underway to move the last captives of the Barcelona Zoo to Lipsi Island, after the closure of the dolphinarium.

How can France be so blind? It is only in Russia, China, Dubai or Japan that the industry of captivity continues, nourished by Taiji dolphins. Is this really the path that our country intends to follow?

The only decree that One Voice will support is therefore the one that will put in place the closure of all dolphinariums in France, through firm and progressive procedures, associated with the establishment of marine sanctuaries.

2017: The fight against feline strays

2017: The fight against feline strays

2017: The fight against feline strays
08.12.2016
France
2017: The fight against feline strays
Domestic animals

10.7 million homeless cats, hundreds of thousands killed each year… It cannot go on any longer. For felines without families, One Voice asks the presidential candidates for a plan of action that finally puts an end to the wandering and suffering associated with it.

They are called Sheila, Mahalo, Felix, Mr. Chat… They once had a home but one day were deemed undesirable. For them, the time to stray had begun. Find shelter from the cold or the rain, find food and drink, protect yourself from attacks, those from other cats, dogs and humans too. Because in the street, cats are victims of a thousand abuses: stones being thrown, burning, smacks… So many trials that they have to survive on a daily basis.

Some, however, have a chance to meet a benevolent human. Someone who will help them a little, or adopt them to offer a new family and this time, someone who will not betray them. But despite these women and men who, for some, dedicate their lives to helping them, the problem does not go away. It never stops getting worse. Because at the origin
of strays, at the base of the overpopulation feline, there is the rate of reproduction: in seven years, it is estimated that a cat and its offspring can give birth to as much as four hundred thousand kittens, of course, there are those who are thrown into the street, but also those who are born there.

One Voice asks the authorities to react. It is time for this to stop. It calls for a national plan to fight feline straying in France, including mandatory sterilization and the ban on the sale of animals by classified ads (paper and Internet). In the run-up to the 2017 presidential elections, this is one of the questions the association will ask the candidates to answer. Because straying is a public order problem, which is not only the cause of abuse, but also an environmental nuisance.

The One Voice Action Plan for Cats Without Families

  • Denounce their torturers and make the voices of homeless cats heard
  • Actively lobby the government for mandatory sterilization
  • Take steps at a territorial level to stop the sale of animals by classified ads (paper and Internet)
  • Help our partners in the field bring care, food and love to the surviving felines.

Help cats without families by supporting our campaign.

The dogs of Darjeeling

The dogs of Darjeeling

The dogs of Darjeeling
30.11.2016
India
The dogs of Darjeeling
Domestic animals

In 2002, One Voice financed the construction of the Darjeeling Animal Centre in Western Bengal, India, allowing thousands of dogs and cats to be given medical care and to be sterilised. In 2016, the adventure goes on!

The town of Darjeeling is found nestled in a valley at the foothills of the Himalayas, with tea plantations covering the hills. Originally a British colonial’s resort, who came every summer to refresh themselves from the Calcutta heatwaves, Darjeeling has since become an Indian town like the others: touristic, polluted, crowded and populated by the bolting shadows of the outcasts of all outcasts, stray dogs.

These poor individuals, covered in dust, worn down by parasites, and exhausted from hunger, live in constant fear of being kicked or having stones thrown at them. We see them scuttling around, heads down, between the shop stalls, shooed away into traffic jams where many of them finish under a lorry’s wheels. The people throwing stones at them do it mostly in fear. In India, rabies is still a real risk: 18,000 people die of it each year.

In order to reduce the spread of the disease, the Darjeeling municipality regularly launch street dog eradication campaigns, whose bite is the main transmitter of the virus.

In Jaipur, Christine Townend and her husband Jeremy have already set up an ‘ABC’ programme (Animal Birth Control). They were prepared to invest in Darjeeling as in the neighbouring town of Kalimpong, but how would they find the money? Who would finance the project? Because of a lack of answers to these questions, the project remained dormant. However, in 2002, after having obtained commitment from the town, One Voice offered all of the funds necessary to buy the land and to construct Darjeeling Animal Shelter, without looking back. The ABC programmes could start!

Today, the first thing we notice when we arrive in the town, is that there are less stray dogs, they look happier, and are in better health. The veterinary centre, still financed by One Voice, and fully active since 2008, has been looking after them ever since. Thousands of dogs, and more recently, cats, have been looked after in the refuge; treated and sterilised. Some are released, others stay in the centre, and others are adopted. Going further afield, the Darjeeling Animal Centre team has expanded its remit, with a veterinary van that visits the villages to treat animals. Vaccination camps are also installed in isolated hamlets that are only accessible by foot.

Gradually, more individuals are getting involved, volunteers are presenting themselves at the refuge, people are adopting cats, and mentalities are changing. People’s points of view are shifting for these animals that were once seen as untouchable. They have seen the centre personnel catch them gently, give them medical care, sterilise them and let them go once they are back in good health. On top of this of course is the essential work undertaken by the centre, creating awareness in a population who mistreat dogs out of fear of rabies, and persecute cats out of superstition.

To support this wonderful project, which will surely be a useful pilot for many other Asian and African towns, One Voice is looking for sponsors for Darjeeling’s ‘stars’. The oldest one, Dolly, an adorable dog, was found abandoned on the return from a mission. Forced to scrounge in rubbish bins to feed herself, she was sadly no stranger to human abuse. Thanks to the refuge team, she quickly regained her strength and high spirits with her best friend Nuri, a stocky little dog who she loves playing with. Dolly has not been adopted but everyone at the refuge loves her: she is welcome wherever she goes, even if she is quite imposing! Dolly loves inspecting visitors and the dogs that they bring with them. It is without doubt a job that she has allocated to herself and she executes it with great seriousness.

Alongside One Voice, please help Dolly, Cricket, Soumil, Pikachi and all of the other residents in the Darjeeling refuge! They are counting on you!

Dolphins die… For justice system: Move on, there is nothing to see!

Dolphins die… For justice system: Move on, there is nothing to see!

Dolphins die… For justice system: Move on, there is nothing to see!
25.11.2016
Loire-Atlantique Dolphins die… For justice system: Move on, there is nothing to see!
Exploitation for shows

On November 24th, Nantes Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI) granted the request of Parc Planète Sauvage and ordered One Voice to pay €1,000. The TGI also cancels the order of justice having authorized the association to investigate with the help of a bailiff the conditions of detention for the dolphins in this park … which has just recorded the death of the young Aikko!

His decision was based on the report prepared by the Departmental Direction of the Protection of the populations of Loire-Atlantique (DDPP), following a visit to the zoological park of Port-Saint-Père in February 2016, indicating that “The animals’ health status and their conditions of detention are in accordance with the regulations in force, no danger having been noted for these dolphins“. The judge also denied the urgency of the application for the court order, obtained by One Voice to carry out this summer, a bailiff ‘s report on the living conditions and health of the eight dolphins in the Park.

Muriel Arnal, President of One Voice, who was received at the Ministry of the Environment on 24 November to plead for the closure of dolphinariumins in France, commented on the decision:

“This judgment could be understood if the young dolphin Aikko who was sent to Park Asterix early 2015, did not die in Port-Saint-Père on November 6th. We did our work as whistle-blowers, with two successive reports produced this year by eminent marine biologists (Dres Naomi Rose and Ingrid Visser) to highlight the dysfunctions of the park, and with this lawsuit to obtain a bailiff’s report. Such a decision masks a reality that now weighs on the future of other dolphins of Planet Sauvage, including the half-brother of Aikko, the young Galéo. How many deaths will it take before something is done?”

The association does not give up, far from it: The Commission for access to administrative documents, the CADA, gave a favourable opinion on 3 November 2016 to One Voice’s request that the refusal of the DDPP to provide a copy of the control report relating to the Planète Sauvage dolphinarium was not justified. One Voice has therefore reiterated its request for a copy of the DDPP control report and remains committed to shed light on the causes of Aikko’s death and to put the other dolphins in the park out of harm’s way.

For Muriel Arnal:

“The report of the DDPP, giving an endorsement to the park on its compliance with the regulations cannot fail to note the lack of adequate shade for the pools, as well as the presence of algae, this criterion alone should not allow such a positive conclusion. Moreover, since the passage of the DDPP, Planète Sauvage has recorded the birth of two dolphins. The conditions of detention and the coexistence between cetaceans have nothing more to do with the report, as today one of the three pools is used to isolate infant dolphins with their mothers … This reduces the other dolphins to an untenable confinement. I recall that last year, the birth of a dolphin in Port-Saint-Prère resulted in the death of the baby, victim of a fight between depressed dolphins.”

The One Voice association therefore maintains all its ongoing proceedings against the Parc Planète Sauvage: the complaint filed with the public prosecutor, the request addressed to the prefect for formal notice to comply with the regulations on pain of suspension of its activity, and finally an interim procedure to assess the causes of the death of Aikko.

Press contact:

info@one-voice.fr

Share on

An appeal trial in Agen: breeding or trafficking?

An appeal trial in Agen: breeding or trafficking?

An appeal trial in Agen: breeding or trafficking?
18.11.2016
Lot-et-Garonne An appeal trial in Agen: breeding or trafficking?
Domestic animals

The appeal trial of 28 November in Agen will decide on the case of a breeder’s fraudulent practices. One Voice is hoping for an exemplary judgment. 37 cats, 19 dogs and 7 puppies, all in a deplorable state, were seized from her breeding establishment in February 2015.

In this farm of Lot-et-Garonne, it is first the smell of ammonia that takes your breath away. The floor is littered with excrement. Cats are crammed into small makeshift pens, even in rabbit cages, devoid of any comfort to the point that stereotypical movements have been observed. A number of them are devoid of documentation and of dubious origin. Dogs are also present. A dog and her pups are locked in the dark, in a cellar. Another in a garage. A dog is in a vehicle in the garden. All animals are sick, none have been treated. All will not survive. Calcined bones were also found in an incinerator. Even worse, a dying puppy will be eventually discovered in a plastic bag...

This case, joins another still under investigation in the Dordogne, even the authorities were shocked. Frédérique Dubost, Prosecutor of one of the departments concerned, was deeply involved. During the two seizures made in February 2015, the state of the place and that of the animals was catastrophic. The report from the trial judgment, which contains the findings made during the searches states the “deplorable state of health” of 63 animals that were seized, which “all presented pathologies attributed to ill-treatment, defects of care as well as malnutrition and dehydration”.

Since 2007, the breed was put on notice to make her facilities comply with the legislation. But the work by the investigators and the network of informants and investigators of the Cell Zoé revealed that this was far from the case, giving One Voice the necessary elements for the organization of two seizures, some animals having proved non-transportable at the end of the first seizure.

At the trial, the breeder was convicted of mistreatment of animals, deprivation of care, starvation and watering, a suspended prison sentence and a ban for 5 years and various other fines.

One Voice strongly hopes that the Agen court will uphold this sentence at the appeal hearing. The sentence must be exemplary. Cats and dogs are not products that can be stored: they are individuals who need respect of their dignity. They should not even be the subject of a contract.

This breeding is symptomatic of the deviance of a practice. Can our pets continue to be traded? From a market? This question needs to be reconsidered urgently and thoroughly. Where there is sale, where there is profit, there is exploitation and there cannot be dignity for animals. ” Muriel Arnal President of One Voice

Share on

An even more rigorous label for One Voice

An even more rigorous label for One Voice

An even more rigorous label for One Voice
18.11.2016
An even more rigorous label for One Voice
Animal testing

A popular source of vegetal butter, coconut oil is in fashion. Unfortunately, a closer look at this industry reveals the callous exploitation of macaques, used in coconut gathering… An additional ethical consideration for One Voice, who have decided to make its criteria even more rigorous.

Misconceived good intentions

The first macaque training school was created in the Thai province of Surat Thani, based on the age-old tradition of using monkeys in arboriculture. This industry is booming; coconut tree related sales and its various by-products (oils, milk, cream, fruit, sap, fibres, leaves and wood) are proving successful for the producing countries: Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Thailand, the main suppliers to the European Union. Sales have been further boosted by consumers looking for palm oil substitutes, following heightened awareness of its links to deforestation …

A useful resource

Harvesting coconuts is arduous and dangerous work, taking place several metres above the ground. The pay (barely 70 bahts (£1.62)) per one hundred coconuts has not improved following the devastating insect invasion in Thai plantations a few years ago. Monkeys are twenty times more efficient and of course don’t need to be paid. They have quickly been identified as a profitable resource. They are also used in the state of Kerala in India, where it is rare for young workers to start careers as fruit pickers.

The monkeys used are the Southern Pig-Tailed Macaques (Macaca nemestrina). Where do they come from? According to one manager:

“Some monkeys are descendants of the ‘beroks’ (captive trained monkeys); others are captured in the forest with nets or traps. Often, nursing mothers must be killed in order to capture their young.”

The acute intelligence of these primates allows them to be “trained” in just a few weeks. This training allows them to identify the ripe nuts and perfect the rotation technique to detach them from the tree. A monkey is capable of harvesting several hundred coconuts per day – up to 1,600 for males and 600 for the females – compared to a human who could only collect around 80. This ability, however, requires a lot of effort from the animal, who is exploited to excess. If the coconut is hard to remove and the macaque stops working, he is quickly reminded to get back to work with a sharp yank on his leash, provoking a cry of pain from the primate. Once all of the fallen coconuts are grouped together, the “master” and his worker move to the next tree, and so on.

A slave’s work

During their training and afterwards (the rest of their lives…), the monkeys have no freedom, their lives are spent chained up or in a cage, with little possibility of socialising. They are not able to behave and interact naturally (in their natural environment they form couples, educate their young, and are free to move about and rest when they want to). These monkeys are transformed into living machines, conveniently used by humans as a continual source of labour, and are even presented as a curiosity to curious tourists who can watch them work.

Other than the harvesting, the monkeys collect fallen coconuts in the thick bushes, gather and transport tools, and load hundreds of coconuts onto lorries… Their life can be summed up by long hours of intense constant work, with zero freedom. Quite simply: slavery.

A label with very high standards

Exploitation of sentient beings in this way is incompatible with the One Voice label, which has been established to guarantee the preservation of the life and integrity of all those who share this planet. Further to the existing criteria stipulating no animal products or animal experimentation in One Voice labelled products, no animal labour is to be used either. One Voice’s charter will be modified to include these criteria.

Several One Voice labelled suppliers who use coconut related products have been consulted regarding this aspect of their production. Despite having various suppliers, they seem to be committed to working with us on this problem and are moving forward with human harvesting techniques. For each One Voice label endorsement, a declaration to this effect will be asked for and verified by independent audit. This will contribute even further to the construction of a non-violent society, for all of the living beings of this planet.

December 7th: Jane Goodall will be with One Voice in Tübingen!

December 7th: Jane Goodall will be with One Voice in Tübingen!

December 7th: Jane Goodall will be with One Voice in Tübingen!
16.11.2016
Germany
December 7th: Jane Goodall will be with One Voice in Tübingen!
Animal testing

On December 7, One Voice, Doctors Against Animal Experiments and Cruelty Free International are organizing an event to call for an end to the use of primates in neuroscience, with Jane Goodall at their side.

The chosen location: Tübingen, Germany, where Léa and her six macaque companions, born in French parks and sent to the Max Planck Institute for invasive experiments on the brain, are notably locked up. Since December 2014, One Voice has been campaigning for their release and return. The mobilization follows a joint investigation by our partners in ECEAE that revealed the horror of brain experiments and trepanning. The investigation report from the German police following the investigation is under examination by an expert for several months now. His conclusions are anticipated…

Around Jane Goodall, Sir David Attenborough and 19 other scientists, primatologists and animal welfare experts, who have recently called for the cessation of all cruel primate testing in laboratories. In the European Union, 6,000 of them have been victims already each year. One Voice, who has been a referent of the animal experiment group in the Animal Policy collective, welcomes this call for the abolition of experiments on apes. France is the European country that experiments the most on them.

To attend the conference (which will be held in English), you can purchase a ticket at www.goodall.aerzte-gegen-tierversuche.de

“My team and I have been studying chimpanzees (…) for over 50 years (…). We have also studied baboons and other monkeys and there is no doubt that they also experience suffering, fear, depression, anxiety, frustration and many other emotions. Closing our close relatives in laboratory cages and subjecting them to experiments, often stressful
and painful, is morally unacceptable to me. Restricting their movements and depriving them of water is inhuman and extremely cruel. We do not have the right to exploit them in this way for any reason”,

Jane Goodall said.

Aïcko is dead

Aïcko is dead

Aïcko is dead
10.11.2016
Loire-Atlantique Aïcko is dead
Exploitation for shows

The 9th of November 2016. Aïcko, the dolphin held by Planet Sauvage (Wild Planet) and on whose behalf One Voice had filed an additional complaint, died on Sunday. The association has asked the prefect to take up the issue.

We had made our fears public concerning this issue. On the 29th of October, we visited Planète Sauvage with Dr. Naomi Rose, a world recognised specialist in marine mammals. Her conclusion was very clear: Aïcko was dangerously thin and his body was covered with deeper rake-like bite marks than those of the other dolphins in the aquarium. Since the improvement of Galéo’s state of health following our complaint last June – which for us now means we are fighting a counter-complaint from the park – Aïcko had become the new whipping boy of the rest of the group. These are the last images that we would ever take of him.

Driven by these findings, on the 7th of November One Voice had filed an additional complaint, accompanied by a full report signed by Dr. Rose. But Aïcko couldn’t hold on long enough. He was too small, too fragile. He should have been excluded from these shows and not present whilst they were in progress.

He didn’t even join in on the show, either because the trainer didn’t ask him to – would his tail fin have been capable of supporting his weight for a “tail-walk”? – or because had cut the contact with him.

Now that he is no longer, who will the older dolphins attack? Galéo again? The two babies currently growing up in the improvised maternity pool alongside their mothers have probably got some dark days to come. One Voice has referred the case to the prefect to ask him to formally demand Planet Sauvage to satisfy their animal welfare obligations before they have to suspend their activity. The Judge of Nantes has also been officially informed of Aïcko’s death and given the latest report.

Muriel Arnal, One Voice’s president, declares:

“The dolphinariums undermine the dignity of cetaceans which they keep captive. These animals are in such a state of stress and frustration that they attack the weakest group member. Who now will be the target of this violence? Galéo again? Or Amani and Nouma, the two little male dolphins born at the end of the summer? There has already been too much drama. It is time to close the dolphinariums and put an end to cetacean slavery”

Share on

Aïcko, the forgotten baby

Aïcko, the forgotten baby

Aïcko, the forgotten baby
07.11.2016
Loire-Atlantique Aïcko, the forgotten baby
Exploitation for shows

At Planète Sauvage, Aïcko is withering away. Invited to visit by One Voice, Dr Naomi Rose wrote in her report following her visit on the 29th of October: “I have never observed such an underweight dolphin in captivity in my career”. One Voice will be lodging an additional complaint for the little Aïcko.

Latest news: Aicko is no longer. Following the little dolphin’s death on the 9th of November, OneVoice has asked the prefect to take up this case.For more information please see our press releaseconcerning Aicko.

The little baby that everyone loved

“He’s like a little shrimp, he seems so small and fragile next to his mother and godmother. Aïcko was born on Saturday and has since been stretching his fins in the Park Asterix pools. He weighs a tiny 12kg, compared to his parents, the pretty Aya, 14, and the seducer Guama, who weigh 180kg“. Guama is also Galéo’s father. Aïcko can count on his mother hen, Aya, and on Beauty, his elderly Godmother of 35 years, to protect him from danger: “They follow his every move. Beauty swims alongside between him and the pool edge to avoid him hurting himself on the pool-sides, and the minute there is any sign of aggression in the pool, Aya quickly rushes to his other side so that he can’t get hit by the other dolphins“, explains Christel, his keeper. (1)

This was Aïcko’s birth announcement (Aïcko means “Little Love” in Japanese) in August 2010. However, to create space and to avoid “that the young males breed with their mother and / or their sisters” as admits Park Asterix, Aïcko was sold along with his half-brother, Galéo, to Planète Sauvage in January 2015 (at sea, no dolphin would dare violate its parents!). Without his pretty mother or Godmother to protect him, he has to fend for himself in ‘Scarface’ Péos’s territory. Péos is a large aggressive male who also suffered some serious traumas during his childhood, himself a victim of his past.

Aïcko sinks into his own despair

This is the state in which Dr. Rose has found him, after having visited Marine City on the 29th of October with One Voice. She discovered a worryingly thin Aïcko. “I have never observed such an underweight dolphin in captivity in my career”

Like Galéo a few months ago, Aïcko is presenting signs of serious malnutrition, and open deep raked bite-marks can be seen on his body. With the exception of the two new-borns, Aïcko is the youngest dolphin in the park. Not yet six, he has been plunged into the lowest ranks of the fierce hierarchy that reigns at Planète Sauvage. In the wild, subordinate dolphins are able to flee from aggressive interactions with older individuals. The scars on wild dolphin’s bodies are much less serious marks from child-play. It’s nothing like that in captivity, where insanity reigns in a ridiculously tiny closed world.

During the noisy show, far removed from their natural environment, Aïcko disobeys or throws himself at his half-brother who swims with a trainer. His behaviour indicates his extreme confusion and stress. Perhaps he will survive, but it is upsetting to have to drag a dolphinarium through justice to ensure that it correctly looks after its life-timers.

Dr. Ingrid Visser’s visit seems, however, to have had an effect. Galéo is doing a bit better, he has gained some weight and his wounds are healing. But what an awful life! It is not normal, asserts Naomi Rose, that the park leaves junior dolphins to the mercy of aggressive adults in this way.

Stop the babies!

Dr. Rose is also worried about what the future holds for Amani and Nouma, the two young males born at the end of the summer. What do they think of the world, shut up day after day with their terrified mothers, whilst Péos angrily clacks his teeth in front of the door that separates them from the main pool? The walls of the maternity pool where they are being raised are becoming covered with black algae, being left to grow on a layer of excrement, to reduce reflection from the sun. Why not provide shade to all of them using just a simple canopy? Captive dolphins suffer from UV overexposure as a result of the unnatural amount of time spent near the surface of the water.

Naomi Rose concludes that the two young dolphins cannot develop normally in this pool, and Planète Sauvage should put an end to the reproduction programme. But a new baby means more clients! So tough luck if the “little shrimps”, so popular when they are newborns, become the whipping boys for the other dolphins who have been driven crazy by captivity and boredom! Pity has no place here.

Sign and share our petition

Naomi Rose

The holder of a doctorate in animal biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Naomi Rose is an international expert in the domain of captive marine mammals. The author of more than 30 scientific peer-reviewed articles, as well as many articles and chapters in several books, she has testified four times before the United States congress on issues varying from polar bear sports hunting, the welfare of captive marine animals and the impact of human-caused noise on marine mammals. Doctor Rose has been a member of the International Whaling Commission since the year 2000, in which she participates in the sub-committee on the observation of whales and in a permanent workgroup which considers the environmental issues. After having worked over the last 20 years defending marine mammals at the International Humane Society, for whom she wrote an enlightening report “The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity” (2), she is currently working at the Animal Welfare Institute. For this organisation, she has recently participated in negotiations with SeaWorld to end Orca breeding, and together with Dr. Lori Marino, she is preparing to open a rehabilitation centre for captive cetaceans with the Whale Sanctuary Project (3). Naomi Rose is an essential player in the European coalition, Dolphinaria-Free Europe, of which One Voice is a member.

1. http://www.leparisien.fr/plailly-60128/aicko-le-no…
2. https://www.worldanimalprotection.us.org/sites/def…
3. http://www.whalesanctuaryproject.org/