Archives: News

The gorilla and the child

The gorilla and the child

The gorilla and the child
03.06.2016
Etats Unis
The gorilla and the child
Wildlife

When Harambe saw the young boy fall down into his enclosure at the Cincinnati zoo, he went straight to him. A human child or a gorilla child, to Harambe, it’s pretty much the same thing, they look so similar! The young gorilla was not yet a father himself but he showed the same concern for the little human as he would have for one of his own. He checked that the child was still alive and then shaded him with his strong body.

This is when the cries started, screams of « Oh my God! », as people assembled on the guardrails in an eruption of mass hysteria, looking down at the pair and throwing objects.

The gorilla, surprised, dragged the child a bit further away using the strength that he possesses. They then stopped again near the fountain. The gorilla took the boys hand. He stood him up, pulled up his pants and adjusted his t-shirt. The gorilla looked into the boys eyes for a long time. Then without warning, in one shot, a bullet exploded his skull. The beautiful Harambe was dead at the age of 17, the day after his birthday.

We could have distracted Harambe with treats, or distanced him with a jet of water. We could have evacuated the excited public, calmed the big primate, spoken gently to him. In the days following this sad event, Franz De Waal and other primate behaviour specialists have reiterated: at no point did Harambe show the slightest sign of aggression, he just showed concern regarding the public’s reaction.

But it was just a monkey after all; whose life has never had the same value as that of a human. Rather than taking the slightest risk, we prefer to fix the problem with arms.

For the Ohio zoo, who had acquired the male in 2015 from Gladys Porter Zoo, Harambe was just an incubator of precious genes. The crazy eugenic logic of the reproduction programmes values the species more than the individual. So, the sperm was quickly taken from his body to be refrigerated and injected one day into a specially chosen female. Births at the zoo are also very lucrative.

Yet however many gorillas from the western plains are battery farmed, this will never save the species itself. None of these big primates born amongst humans would be capable of returning to their ancestral home and surviving. Gorillas are cultural beings possessing intelligence, gentle vegetarian people who have evolved in the primal forests over thousands of years. They pass down their knowledge from generation to generation; humans are not capable of teaching them this.

The real importance is not to multiply them in order meet industry and leisure requirement for little groups of show gorillas, that families can visit for a fee whilst eating popcorn. The real emergency is to save the large primates habitat as quickly as possible, whilst we still can, investing the resources required to act seriously in areas such as the Dzanga Sangha reserve or the Virunga mountains. Without the forest, the gorillas are no longer gorillas, but are monsters in a fair, pathetic phoney King Kongs on display for the crowd who tremble from a safe distance.

Harambe was not King Kong. He was just a young prisoner born in captivity into a confined world where he had absolutely nothing to do, both literally and figuratively. What has come from this tragedy? A pointless debate about parental responsibility, a great sadness amongst the gorillas at Gorilla World, but not yet, sadly, a radical review into the real reason that Harambe was killed: the zoos. It’s one
zoo that brought him into the world, another that killed him, demonstrating the same level of concern for production that is given to the poor battery chickens.

Rest in peace, Harambe. We will do our very best to ensure that in France and in the rest of the world, that one day an event such as this will never be repeated.

One step nearer circuses without animals!

One step nearer circuses without animals!

One step nearer circuses without animals!
30.05.2016
France
One step nearer circuses without animals!
Exploitation for shows

Banned in more than 30 towns, the end of the exploitation of animals in circuses seems more inevitable than ever before.

From its very beginning, One Voice has helped municipalities confronted with the illegal occupation of circuses, providing authorities with training when having to enforce that regulations, often ignored, are respected concerning the detention of wild animals. (See our fight’s background here)

Circuses with animals are not only places of much suffering for the animals detained, but they also present a threat to the security of the public and residents. Accidents, sometimes fatal, are constant reminders of this.

In 16 years of campaigning, their number has dropped dramatically from 200 to less than half of this… One Voice praises the towns who have clearly expressed their refusal to see these organisations there, organisations who consider subservience to be entertainment! If circuses contest their refusal, One Voice will provide all legal aid necessary to townships in order to assert their rights… For fifteen years now, One Voice has been offering aid to circus performers to retrain as real circus artists. The human performances are magical and amazing expressions of liberty… The ethical circus of tomorrow is for today!

Discover
the map of municipalities that have already adopted this position, updated regularly.

Horse torturer

Horse torturer

Horse torturer
24.05.2016
France
Horse torturer
Domestic animals

Monitored by One Voice for ten years now, Mr. P has been keeping dozens of horses in criminal conditions, with some dying as a result. After two seizures, Mr. P was banned from keeping animals. But this man didn’t stop, nor did One Voice.

It all began in 2006

Our investigative department was alerted about Mr. P regarding the mistreatment of his horses. A young stallion had just died when One Voice intervened. An initial seizure took place, saving 45 horses. Their physical decline was extreme. Neglected, their hooves were damaged, they were suffering from malnutrition, lymphangitis, arthritis, and thrush, an aliment which affects the area just above the hoof and also the back and the rump, leaving the horses skin inflamed and scabby. No water or shelter had been provided for them. Certain mares were pregnant but not one of them was capable of delivering a living foal because of the lack of care and inadequate living conditions.

Celeste, aged around twenty years old, was top of the list to be saved, but her owner managed to conceal her for two years. When the One Voice investigator eventually managed to locate the little mare in 2008, it was already too late. Celeste was in a terrible state in the corner of a field. Her head dangling, leaning against a wall, she was hardly able to stay on her feet as her leg was so devoured by fibrous tumours. The horse owner had bred her twice, but both times her young had died because of a lack of milk. The DDPP* rushing to the scene, made the decision to quickly put Celeste down in order to end her horrendous suffering. One Voice couldn’t save Celeste, but luckily this was not the case for other horses.

The breeder’s long history of abuse

At the end of the seizure in 2006, Mr.P was definitively banned from keeping animals. Discrete but constant surveillance shows, however, that this man just doesn’t care. He purchases new horses which he then hides on friend’s properties. At One Voice’s request, a new seizure was organised taking place over three days, from the 6th to the 8th of February 2014. During this operation several horses were once again found in worrying states of health.

Baloo, a young four year old male discovered in this operation, was the size of a ten month old foal. He was suffering from such malnutrition and was so weak that he had to be put on a drip before we could even think about moving him. Octave was isolated in a field on the edge of a forest. No water was provided for him, he was drinking out of puddles. He also resembled a one year old foal even though he was already three. We also discovered Annabelle and her foal at the bottom of a soaking field accompanied by other horses, behind a makeshift electric fence without hay or food of any kind provided for them. The foal was very weak, his ribs were showing and he was almost wild, it would appear that he had never had contact with humans. 19 horses were taken in this new seizure.

But will these rescues suffice to stop these criminal horse breeders? Nothing is less certain. Surveillance, investigations, seizures, official complaints and legal processes are likely to figure again for these serial torturers.

 

* Direction départementale de la protection des populations: Local French authority concerned with animal welfare (amongst other things)

 

 

Horse transportation: the end of the road

Horse transportation: the end of the road

Horse transportation: the end of the road
24.05.2016
Haute Marne
Horse transportation: the end of the road
Domestic animals

Every year, thousands of famished horses are driven to the slaughterhouse over long distances. This transportation is as cruel as their slaughter. Ten years have gone by since this unforgettable rescue by One Voice, and nothing has changed. It is time to reconsider the status of horses!

On a hot June day in 2005, in Haute-Marne, the scorching sun is bleaching the wheat in this North-Eastern region of France. One Voice’s investigator, Eric, is on duty alongside the police where a Spanish lorry parked in a motorway rest area has caught their attention. On opening the doors, they are greeted with a horrible sight. Twenty seven horses are squashed into the tiny overheated space. Destined for a Belgian abattoir, these unhappy individuals, exhausted from a life of slavery, are now being got rid of; the last bit of profit being squeezed from their meat.

Scrawny, thirsty and starving, the horses are extremely weak. A mare is collapsed on the faeces and urine soaked floor. She attempts to lift her head. Her eye is damaged and her body bruised by hoof marks. Blood is splattered around from her head hitting the floor and the walls during the journey. The driver tries to get her onto her feet by pulling her mane, in vain. She succumbs before the emergency vet can arrive. Her autopsy later reveals that she was not fed or given water for more than 48 hours before she died of exhaustion. In another corner of the lorry, another horse is unable to move. His back foot is fractured. The decision is made to put an end to his suffering. A third will survive for only a few days.

Thanks to One Voice and the police’s rapid response, the survivors are unloaded onto the motorway rest area where they receive first aid, water and hay. One Voice files a complaint for acts of cruelty the same day. A few days later, the judge decides to give us custody of the surviving 24 horses and we take on their care, homing them with trusted people. The trader tries to recover his goods but Spain refuses to take back the horses. Following much difficult negotiation, the agricultural minister agrees that the animals, legally destined for the butchers, are spared to live a peaceful life until their last days. Never has such a decision been taken. This time, our friends were saved for good!

This great triumph in 2005 is one example of the constant fight led by One Voice’s crisis centre Zoe against abuse, undergoing detailed investigations, complex legal procedures and sometimes harrowing seizures for the investigators.

But the fight must be stepped up a level. In order to protect horses from this unwarranted criminal transportation, the law must change! One Voice is appealing that this species, our friend for thousands of years now, is classed as a pet and no longer as livestock. This would mean an end to the consumption of horse meat. All of this campaigning demands energy, patience and above all the means. Please help One Voice protect the horses. They need us!

 

‘Livestock markets’: Hell’s death row

‘Livestock markets’: Hell’s death row

‘Livestock markets’: Hell’s death row
24.05.2016
France
‘Livestock markets’: Hell’s death row
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

One Voice investigators have gathered terrible images of ongoing practices in ‘livestock’ markets. The brutality they document is the cause of much suffering…

Somewhere in France, in a livestock market…

Men grab the calf by the ears and tail and throw him out of the van as he cries in pain. In a shower of blows, they drag and load him into another vehicle. Further away, an angry man grabs the throat of a sheep, throwing him violently against a metal bridge. Elsewhere, a bull refusing to be loaded onto his long voyage to Spain is shot with a stun gun on his head, sides, anus and testicles. Some blows are inflicted with the end of the instrument, causing severe pain. Everywhere we can hear bleating, mooing and the infernal cacophony of these exhausted milk-cows, sheep, goats and calves waiting to be sold and sent off on their final voyage.

The violent images are so awful that One Voice researchers have investigated several French livestock markets.

Their findings also reveal that the worst moments for the animals come not only from the brutally conducted loading and unloading, but also from the transportation nightmare which can last days from France to Spanish or German slaughterhouses.

In one market, investigators noted that nine out of ten vehicles were not suitable for the transportation of animals. Some calves were waiting in an old van. Sheep were crammed into vehicles of all sizes, deprived of ventilation or bedding. Some were shut into trailers, and we even counted nine sheep in a private estate car! Livestock transportation in France is subject to strict regulation but this is completely disregarded…

Fact and figures

Every year, more than 2 million animals are sold in ‘livestock’ markets in France. These markets take place once a week in dozens of towns and villages. Generally, the market opens its doors at midnight to unload and distribute the animals. Hundreds of lorries, some with trailers or multi-storey, bring their head of cattle, sheep etc. from all surrounding farms. They are taken to waiting pens. Transactions start in the morning at dawn. For the animals, it’s the final phase before the slaughterhouse. For those that handle them, they are already the living dead, whose injuries will go unwitnessed.

Even if these markets are showing signs of vulnerability due to the milk crisis, France exports no less than one million horses, sheep and pigs every year to Italy. With approximately 60,000 beef cows exported annually to Lebanon, France has become the second European exporter in this region after Germany. As for Spain, it’s the second biggest buyer of living cattle originating from France, which represents around 400,000 animals per year leaving for fattening up and death, mainly calves from 15 days old and the young females. The French exporters are above all appreciated for their ‘weanlings’, the young calves or lambs nursed by their mothers in the fields. They are killed at around the age of 9 or 12 months for their pink flesh, after having been through hell in the daybreak markets. On the butcher’s stalls, there is no trace of their suffering. Yet it continues from market to market, year after year, with no one showing any concern.

What should we do?

To stop this cruelty and many other abuses inflicted every day on animals, One Voice has launched the crisis centre Zoe, a tool to create awareness, fighting against and preventing animal abuse. Crisis centre Zoe works in collaboration with the police and the authorities concerned.

But we as consumers can also do something. By giving up the consumption of meat, as well as milk products closely linked to the veal business, we can change the market forces and end this torture.

 

The link: finally on the political map!

The link: finally on the political map!

The link: finally on the political map!
24.05.2016
Haut Rhin
The link: finally on the political map!
Domestic animals

We would like to thank the Members of Parliament Francis Hillmeyer and Laurence Abeille! Finally, thanks to their efforts, the ‘Link’ issue raised by One Voice has been brought to the attention of the French Government… A crucial first step in our fight against all violence.

Since 2007, One Voice has been working on the Link issue: the correlation between domestic violence and animal abuse.

In 2016 several blatant cases of this have already come to court:

  • In February, in a fit of anger against his partner, a man set fire to her cat, Griffin, and threw him out of a window. He received a prison sentence and is banned for life from keeping
    animals!
  • In March, the owner of the little dog Lea was convicted of sexual violence towards her, having already been charged as a paedophile. He received a jail sentence.
  • In April, 4 year old Matheo’s executioner was sentenced, having cut him up alive and thrown him to the dogs on the Island of Réunion. He had a history of violence, having already decapitated a dog and gutted pigs. He received a life sentence.
  • In May, the mother of a small 4 year old boy was judged with child neglect and maltreatment of animals. Her son, who had been crying for help, was found alone in an apartment with the bodies of a dog and two cats… She received a conditional prison sentence in the first instance.

These cases are dreadful, but sadly demonstrate the non-discriminatory nature of violence, carried out regardless of the victim …

On the 3rd of May 2016, Francis Hillmeyer, MP, from the Haut-Rhin region, together with Laurence Abeille, MP, from the Val-de-Marne region put forward the following parliamentary proposal:

Numerous studies prove the existence of the Link between violence committed towards animals and that committed towards humans – an individual who has exhibited violent behaviour towards an animal being more likely to be violent towards his or her fellow man – Francis Hillmeyer would like to draw the Minister of Justice’s attention to One Voice’s proposals, who campaign for the penal law response to be directly related to the type of violence committed, independent of whether the victim is human or animal. It also requests a response to its proposal to attribute a dedicated prosecutor in each public prosecutor’s office to handle violence against animals or humans, and to systematically address the complaints for violence against animals.

One Voice is delighted with this parliamentary address, representing the initiation of great change in our society. This fundamental evolution concerns all animals, whatever their species!

Support our proposal,
sign and share the petition!

Abandoned amongst the bodies…

Abandoned amongst the bodies…

Abandoned amongst the bodies…
23.05.2016
Aix en Provence
Abandoned amongst the bodies…
Domestic animals

Not yet 4, this little boy’s mother went out leaving him alone in his bed, with his pet’s bodies lying nearby. She was given a conditional prison sentence. Hardly two months after Lea’s terrible story, this is another demonstration of the Link.

She wanted to « sleep with someone ». She left her 3 year old son in his bed without a blanket or pillow. Just a yellowing mattress… Neighbours had been hearing his cries for help for some time, and called emergency services. He was found in his cot floating on a sea of stinking debris. Garbage and clothes, used nappies, excrement… and some bodies too. His friends, his companions; a dog and two cats were close by. One of the cats had died recently, and the other bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition. Amongst all of this: a fresh vase of lily of the valley.

Driven to the paediatric emergency department, the child was deemed to be in good health despite the fact that the school had signalled recurring hygiene problems. Had he seen his friends die? What had happened to them? Did they die of hunger and thirst with all the suffering that this implies? The mother was taken to court for child neglect and animal abuse, with One Voice acting as civil party in the May trial. She was sentenced in the first instance with a conditional prison term.

This new case tragically highlights another example of the Link which exists between violence towards animals and violence towards human victims. This violence needs to be treated equally in the courts of law, in order to reduce it and anticipate it before it escalates. This will allow for a collective awareness and a combined effort in the various cases, as is already the case in other countries.

Far from being an isolated occurrence, these tragic episodes are rising.

On the 24th of May, in Aix-en-Provence, France, One Voice was again present at a trial, this time for the
Griffin case appeal, where the torturer had clearly not appreciated the seriousness of his actions. He received a prison sentence and is banned for life from keeping animals. One Voice is keeping a close watch regarding this case and its victims, as they are also for Lea. When her rapist gets out of prison, One Voice will be there.

And on the Island of Reunion, horror reached new depths in the case of Matheo.

The 3 year old boy was cut up and thrown to the dogs. His torturer, given a life sentence, was known for drinking pig’s blood after having gutted them. A witness described, « One day, the dog had misbehaved with the chickens, so he beheaded him ». The man was also violent with the boy’s mother.

Detecting violence as early as possible and administering the appropriate punishment will allow for its anticipation and for preventative measures to be initiated. What more needs to happen before the State responds to this problem? How much worse should it get?

The link is a tool, the link could have possibly saved Matheo by administering an appropriate early legal response and by providing psychological aid to his murderer.

One Voice has filed several complaints in other affairs where the link is present. It continues to fight so that it is taken seriously…

Sign and share our petition!

Zoos in China: One Voice’s investigation

Zoos in China: One Voice’s investigation

Zoos in China: One Voice’s investigation
20.05.2016
Yulin
Zoos in China: One Voice’s investigation
Wildlife

Our investigations into Chinese zoos have revealed appalling cruelty. In the run up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 we exposed what goes on in Chinese zoos. We set a team of specialist investigators to eight zoos and what they saw and filmed there reduced these experienced professionals to tears.

Our investigations into Chinese zoos have revealed appalling cruelty.

In the run up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 we exposed what goes on in Chinese zoos. We set a team of specialist investigators to eight zoos and what they saw and filmed there reduced these experienced professionals to tears.

They witnessed the misery that animals endure day in, day out, in conditions that can only be described as from the Dark Ages. On a daily basis, wild animals are tormented, humiliated, abused and cruelly treated for public entertainment.

The conditions most animals endure there are shocking. They have small, bare enclosures with concrete floors and some didn’t even have access to drinking water. Many were housed individually, starving them of even basic companionship, and had no access to shade or a place to hide from view.

In one case, children paid £2 each to dangle live chickens on bamboo sticks above the lions in Badaling Zoo. The terrified birds desperately tried to flee as the lions jumped up to snatch them.

At the Tiger Mountain Village near Guilinin in South East China, live cows were left in the tiger enclosures so that they could be stalked by the tigers for the enjoyment of visiting crowds. In the zoo’s own restaurant, visitors can order tiger steaks, bear paws and wine made from crushed tiger bones. Astonishingly, the zoo’s bosses boasted that they had a staggering 140 dead tigers in their freezers ready to be eaten.

In Qingdao zoo, east of Badaling, tortoises are deliberately pelted with coins because it is believed that if you hit a tortoise’s head with a coin, you will be granted a wish. To make it easier for those taking part, elastic bands are wrapped around the tortoises’ heads so that they are unable to pull their heads inside their shells to protect themselves.

Many of the zoos we visited also had in-house shows in which the animals were forced to perform tricks. In one – the ‘Animal Olympics’– clothed chimpanzees, bears forced to walk on their hind legs, and a goose pulling a cart of tiger cubs, were paraded around a mock race track.

This was followed by ‘bear boxing’, in which two moon bears in boxing gloves were forced to take punches at each other while their trainers stood close-by with metal spikes in case they needed encouragement. The audience sat laughing as they watched.

After our investigations in China, we immediately contacted a Chinese animal protection organisation called ACTAsia and we have been working in partnership with them ever since.

Together, we are working hard to change attitudes towards animals in China and other parts of the world so that future generations have respect and empathy for animals. We believe this is best achieved by supporting local organisations with financial support, practical help, campaigns and educational resources where needed.

For example, we help fund ACTAsia’s Caring for Life programme which teaches Chinese primary school children to care about and appreciate animals. So far, the programme has reached almost 14,000 children.

One Voice is totally opposed to zoos and believes that wild animals belong in the
wild.

We believe it is wrong to keep wild animals in captivity and that it simply isn’t possible to provide adequate enclosures for them. Many zoos try to justify what they do by saying they help conservation and educate the public but the reality is that very few contribute anything to conservation or education.

We strongly believe that wild animals have the right to live in freedom in their own natural habitats. That’s why we help fund animal sanctuaries where animals that have been kept in zoos and circuses can be rehabilitated and then, where possible, returned to the wild.

For the cats and dogs sacrificed in China

For the cats and dogs sacrificed in China

For the cats and dogs sacrificed in China
17.05.2016
Yulin
For the cats and dogs sacrificed in China
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

It’s almost summer, it’s almost Yulin.. On the 21st of June, tens of thousands of dogs and cats will be massacred then eaten. And even if it is just a drop in the ocean compared with the millions that are killed every year in this part of the world, it’s the tipping point…

The Yulin festival is subject to much talk, and for good reason. On the first day of summer, 10,000 dogs and 2,000 cats are killed, if we take local authorities figures into account – but local associations estimate this to be more in the region of 40,000 dogs and 10,000 cats… It’s the biggest massacre of dogs and cats in the world!

These cats and dogs come mostly from abattoirs, but an investigation by One Voice and its local partner ACTAsia confirms that in fact some are also kidnapped from their homes and taken from their families. Before their slaughter, they are stacked in tiny cages and stocked in hangars. Water and food are scarce and many do not survive the conditions of incarceration. Others are left extremely weak. When trying to save 1,000 dogs and cats last year, the associations encountered serious difficulties, struggling to provide the veterinary care required for such a vast number of individuals.

The images filmed by One Voice in China and Vietnam give an idea of what happens to these animals… The suffering inflicted upon them before their death is supposed to improve the taste of their meat…

One Voice has been working since 2008 in China with ACTAsia. Together, they are working to change the numerous barbaric practices out there, the Yulin festival being just one of these…

Without adapted legislation, tens of millions of animals will die every year. The campaign led by One Voice and ACTAsia aims to create awareness and educate with lobbies to the authorities. If we don’t change the mentality, these cruel traditions will continue…

This festival must be stopped once and for all. Stopping the festival is crucial not only to eradicate the horrendous suffering involved, but also to obtain a minimum level of respect for those who, in Asia too, are human companions. How can we install respect for those who are exploited for their fur, their bile, their meat and for an ‘experience’?

Sign and share the petition, there is still time to stop the massacre!

Alizé

Alizé

Alize
16.05.2016
Antibes
Alizé
Exploitation for shows

On the 13th of May 2016, the young Alize died at the age of 24 in a medical pool at Marineland, Antibes. According to the park, the dolphin had been suffering from incurable kidney problems for some time. Ok, but what were these problems? And why were they incurable?

As is typical upon hearing a eulogy from a dolphinarium, we are left feeling perplexed. « The trainers were fond of her independent personality, she was cheerful and playful. Alize was part of a group of dolphins whose births, over the last decades, ensure the continuity of future generations ». Independent and playful? Alize was a slave, son of slaves, and had no choice other than to ‘play’ rather than hunt and explore the vast ocean with his friends. As for the continuity of generations, he will never be a father. And in his last year, he was no longer cheerful… At the beginning of 2015, an internal source leaked that two dolphins had died. A third, Alize, was very ill. In July, the director finally declared, « Eclair died in February 2015, Mila-Tami in January 2015. Alize is still with us, I just said goodbye to him before leaving ». Recently however, a white tent covering the medical pool was generating curiosity – a sign that a dolphin was dying. It was Alize, broken by an « incurable kidney disease ».

What disease are we talking about?

Without access to the medical files, we can only guess, but all evidence points to kidney stones, as is the case for many other captive dolphins.

 »
Comparison of Nephrolithiasis Prevalence in Two Bottlenose Dolphin Populations, » a scientific study published in 2013 explains essentially that, « Nephrolithiasis, or urinary tract stone disease is very common in the Tursiops species kept in dolphinariums. » « In contrast, comparative analysis shows that this disease is not present in the natural environment of the wild dolphins in Sarasota Bay ».

In other words, Alize’s kidney problems were a direct consequence of life in captivity.

Many other infections of this type, which can be classed as nosocomial infections, decimate the pools. But also lung diseases provoked by chlorine, kidney diseases linked to massive consumption of food supplements and an excess of red blood cells, stomach ulcers induced by stress, and fungal infections due to a life confined in warm and badly filtered water, etc. As for the kidney stones, the insufficient hydration of dolphins fed on frozen fish could be the reason – as well as them being fed solely during the day as their keepers don’t work at night. All of the risk factors are of course amplified by the breakdown of their immune defences under the weight of their despair and boredom.

Alize undoubtedly suffered. Urinary tract stone disease can be exceptionally painful, alongside the violent renal colic that it provokes.

It is strange however, that this is the cause of death, just when his kidney problem was being correctly treated. What could have happened? As is often the case in other dolphinariums, Alize’s condition must have suddenly got worse due to a bacterial infection. The SeaWorld captive orca, Tilikum, is suffering from this. Having been fed antibiotics all of his life, an antibiotic resistant bacteria is wreaking havoc, generating concerns for his health.

Last year, Eclair died at the age of 26 from prostate cancer.

Mila, his daughter, died at the age of 9 from a gastric obstruction after eating plant matter. Previously, the orca Valentin died from a twisted intestine and his mother from a heart attack! These types of endings are not very common in the ocean, where causes of death are more likely to be old age, getting caught in a net, being mutilated by a boat, falling victim to an epidemic or major pollution rather than dying by swallowing seaweed soaked in chlorine! But these risks haven’t really stopped the species Tursiops truncates from doing pretty well and from abundantly populating the warm seas of the world. In contrast, it is troubling to note that three young captive dolphins have just died in the last three months, when they were all born in a pool surrounded by carers and vets, protected from any danger, pollution or lack of food. Despite this, no Marineland dolphin has ever reached old age (60 years) or even the average age (40 years) of wild dolphins, as established by the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

Why?

Because large migratory marine species, bestowed with a keen intellect and a rich social life, can never blossom in these aquatic cells. Captivity is fundamentally toxic for cetaceans and this is why One Voice demands their immediate abolition on all of the French territory.

Please help us and sign our petition!

Sources