Femke’s euthanasia: open letter to Parc Astérix

Femke’s euthanasia: open letter to Parc Astérix
14.01.2022
Femke’s euthanasia: open letter to Parc Astérix
Exploitation for shows

One year has passed since Femke’s euthanasia, having been kept in the dolphinarium at Parc Astérix since 2008. However, our questions regarding the circumstances of her death remain unanswered to this day. We are writing to the park’s management, in order to understand the exact circumstances of her death. Transparency must take precedence in this matter.

Ms Delphine Pons
Managing Director of Parc Astérix
60128 Plailly

Dear Managing Director,

One year has passed since Femke’s euthanasia, having been kept at Parc Astérix since 2008. However, our questions regarding the circumstances of her death remain unanswered to this day.

In fact, our association asked the administrative authorities in vain to see Femke’s autopsy report.

The common bottlenose dolphin species (Tursiops truncatus), which Femke belonged to, is a protected species in France and worldwide under Article L. 411-1 of the Environmental Code, under Annexe B of the Washington Convention, and under Annexe 2 of Council Regulation (EC) n° 338/97.

The cognitive and social abilities of bottlenose dolphins have won unanimous support nowadays within scientific communities and are sanctified by the UN who recognises the need to protect this species’ culture. As the captive individual, Femke was therefore a representative for her species and for individuals in the wild that make up the species.

Thus, beyond the fact that she was the legal property of Parc Astérix, Femke belonged to an international wildlife heritage which cannot be subject to appropriation for the benefit of private interests. This explains the emotion generated with each death and birth occurring within zoological parks. This is the reason why the data concerning the circumstances of her death must be known by the general public. It is not about individual visitors to the park who have shared moments with her and her sidekicks, but equally about all citizens who are, each at their own level, keepers of a small part of this shared heritage.

This is why we are asking you to please be transparent on this issue and to let us have Femke’s complete autopsy report.

We thank you for your attention to this letter and ask that you accept the expression of our highest consideration.

Muriel Arnal
Founding President of One Voice

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

We will never say yes to televised rodeo in France!

We will never say yes to televised rodeo in France!
29.12.2021
France
We will never say yes to televised rodeo in France!
Exploitation for shows

Animals abused, mistreated, forcibly ridden: this is what rodeo is in reality. Contrary to what journalists from L’Équipe channel say, who have this week broadcast a programme on rodeo, the animals are not artists; they do not choose this life. They are terrified, and it is certainly what makes rodeo so fun for those who watch it. Once the farce of the show of human omnipotence ends, bovines and horses end up at the abattoir.

In France, there are already enough activities creating exploitation and suffering for animals. It is really not worth bringing in new ones!

According to Muriel Arnal, Founding President of One Voice: « Only an intense level of stress could make the bulls react in this way. Scientists have proven that, yes, animals feel pain and fear. Rodeos are the perfect illustration of this. This entertainment derived from animal suffering must disappear from our society. Are the pitiful humans who practise it still so dependent on animals to show their fake power by mistreating them in these moronic and macabre shows? »

Suffering sold as aggression

Calves, bulls, and horses forced to participate in all of these ‘sports’ have not asked for anything from anyone. They are not aggressive by nature. They are mistreated, hit, burnt, drugged… to give the impression of the human showing courage, whether riding a wild horse (bronc riding), riding a bull (bull riding), capturing a calf with a lasso (calf roping), or even wrestling a bull to the floor (steer wrestling), or a race on horseback around barrels (barrel racing), these activities are all rodeo events. The goal is not concealed: it involves being the ‘best’ cowboy, so it is a question of subduing the animals, training them, branding them with a hot poker, making them submissive…

Drugged

The only objections to steroid or anti-inflammatory injections in bulls (to make them aggressive or unable to feel pain) are not even an issue of fair-play (everyone does it, according to those on the frontline), but solely a sanitation issue: there should be no detectable product left during the competition… for human consumption! Worse, there are no regulations concerning mistreatment during training, and they are minimal during competitions.

Assaulted

So that they enter the track faster or rear up, burning the horses, giving them an electric shock, or hitting them is permitted… Everything is orchestrated to give the impression to the mob of spectators that bulls are ‘enraged’, even though often in reality they are struggling in pain after having been abused backstage.

Injured, their final destination is the abattoir

When they arrive at the abattoir, veterinarians make note of the damage. The calves have had their necks broken or have been violently thrown to the ground, some have broken ribs, internal bleeding… including bulls for that matter. They have ruptured aneurysms, heart attacks, shattered backs…. these are life-threatening conditions. Those who survive must start again the next time, and this happens until their last journey to the abattoir.

A revolting story

Rodeo promoters, breeders or event producers, television sponsors or channels, use the same tainted arguments as bull-fighting afficionados: the animals are artists, they are well-treated the rest of the time, they have lived a good life, the few minutes where they are on stage makes them a star… Except the humans who indulge this humiliating spectacle have a choice to take this risk; the animals never do and they are the losers for sure. According to investigations by animal advocates worldwide, (on bull-fighting or rodeos),we are mostly sold the same story ad nauseam which reeks of lies. This business is very lucrative, this ‘spectacle’ is only one step on the way to the cutting line, which only makes the animals’ owner wealthier along the way.

We suggest that you reach out to @lachainelequipe on Twitter sharing this article, so that the replay of the programme will no longer be accessible and the channel will commit to no longer broadcasting these harmful spectacles in the future. You can also write a (polite but engaging) comment on this article from the l’Équipe newspaper.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

MarineLand, Canada, Kiska thrashing…

MarineLand, Canada, Kiska thrashing…
19.12.2021
Canada
MarineLand, Canada, Kiska thrashing…
Exploitation for shows

We filmed Kiska at MarineLand Canada in October 2021 doing violent back and forth movements from left to right near the glass at the shallow end of the pool.She struggles in the water, displacing large amounts of water.

Assessment of the situation of the cetaceans, held at MarineLand of Canada, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Report prepared by Dr Ingrid N Visser (Phd), Tutukaka, New Zealand

Download
Read our campaign about the other MarineLand to know more

Dumba still needs us!

Dumba still needs us!
16.12.2021
Germany
Dumba still needs us!
Exploitation for shows

Another year of solitude has passed by for Dumba. Since her previous keepers put her into a permanent circus in Germany, she no longer spends her life on the road, shut up in a lorry, and is no longer subject to humiliating performances. But boredom still plagues her. Our investigators have witnessed her dismal day-to-day.

Time drags for Dumba… It has been a year since we found the elephant languishing at the back of the animal trainers’ property in the French department of Gard. It was 1 January 2021; she was kept prisoner in a tiny trailer and left to fight against the cold with temperatures below 0°c.

One year of rallying

We need to intervene urgently… we have moved heaven and earth to alert the public and the media, launched a petition, and reasoned with the mayor of Euzet-les-Bains who took the trainers’ side. We also sent letters to the region’s prefect and to the authorised representative in Alès and filed a complaint in order to obtain ownership of the elephant. However, despite the agreement of six independent experts attesting to her alarming state, the French authorities distinguished themselves by their inactivity. And Dumba’s ‘owners’ were able to escape to Germany peacefully.

Still in circus trainers’ hands

From now on, the elderly female is being kept in the Elefantenhof Platschow permanent circus near Hamburg. She has finally escaped from touring and training sessions that she has been enduring since being captured in Africa almost 40 years ago. Our investigators who diligently monitor her went back to see her. While other elephants are exploited between shows and popcorn, she has the privilege of not having to participate in acts. She can even take a few steps in a small enclosure at the back of a human-sized park and visitors don’t harass her. Is Dumba happy in view of all of this? Clearly not. Because she is still faced with isolation. Admittedly, she has other pachyderms surrounding her. But the enclosures separate them. So, it is alone, tragically alone, that Dumba’s days drag on.

Let’s offer her a better future!

Knowing that she is outside of our borders doesn’t mean that we will give up on improving her day-to-day life. Quite the contrary: proceedings are underway and we will fight until we get custody of her. Permanent circuses do not provide a satisfactory solution for the animals that they are keeping. Dumba should be cared for in a sanctuary with more space, surrounded by companions. We will fight until the end to obtain a peaceful sanctuary for her…

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

The other MarineLand : an orca in isolation and belugas crammed in…

The other MarineLand : an orca in isolation and belugas crammed in…
09.12.2021
Canada
The other MarineLand : an orca in isolation and belugas crammed in…
Exploitation for shows

We have published an expert’s report and revealed previously unseen images of the cetaceans from the other MarineLand, located a stone’s throw from Niagara Falls in Ontario, where there are belugas, dolphins, and an orca stagnating in small, dirty tanks. Kiska has been alone for ten years. Animal welfare is so badly flawed that the problems being reported a decade ago are still unresolved and are getting worse! Yet another scandal in the captivity industry.We wrote to Isabelle Hudon, Ambassador of Canada in France as well as Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General of Ontario and Paula Milne, Ontario’s chief animal welfare inspector, and sent them the report.

Just before its annual closure for several months, one of our investigators returned to the other MarineLand in Canada to see what state the cetaceans were surviving in. Kiska was subjected to enforced isolation for years and was going round and round in a tank that was tiny in relation to her size and swimming capability. What will their lives become, being hidden out of sight for the entirety of the Canadian winter?

A damning report

When our investigator went back, the images and information collected were sent to Dr Ingrid Visser, a marine biologist who specialises in orcas, to create a report on Kiska’s state. According to the researcher who had visited MarineLand in person in 2015, 2017, and 2018, and had also received our images from 2021, the conditions of confinement, behaviour, and also the physical state of the animals were so worrying that the report covers much more than just the isolated and neglected orca as we had initially planned.

The quality of the water (page 55), the size of the tanks (page 43) and the general upkeep of the park are questionable. The mental and physical state of the animals is detrimental and has been for years.

« The cetaceans are all exposed to extreme welfare issues. All of them show stereotypical behaviours (in other words abnormal and/or repetitive behaviours). Many of the animals have injuries, of which many are probably the result of self-mutilation behaviours and/or attacks and/or injuries caused by the tanks. » Ingrid Visser, Marine Biologist

Assessment of the situation of the cetaceans, held at MarineLand of Canada, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Download Report prepared by Dr Ingrid N Visser (Phd), Tutukaka, New Zealand

Kiska’s solitude and overcrowding for the belugas

The belugas are on top of each other and, inevitably in such conditions, are subject to attacking. They go round and round in circles, so much so that, like Kiska, their profound mental and psychological problems are also shown as physical problems. Some of them have teeth worn down to the gum, deformed bodies… In the tanks in the show auditorium, there are two sealions, five dolphins, and two belugas. These animals should not share the same tank system as the temperatures required for each species are completely different (mild for one, freezing cold for another). What’s more is that the latter are made to carry humans on their heads (page 29)! The dolphins’ skin is raked with bite marks, specific to being confined, and they are kept in a miniscule tank. As for Kiska, she spends her day idling, skimming around the sides of the tank always in the same direction. So much so that her dorsal fin is collapsing, typical of her having a health problem and a lack of exercise (page 5). Sometimes she exhales underwater to make bubbles, and often, near the “beach” in the tank, makes waves so strong that we think she hits her head on the glass (page 15). This is to keep herself occupied. For the three days that our investigator was there, at no point did the park make any enrichment available to Kiska to cure her boredom. Only mealtimes break the monotony of the days passing by. We were able to film them cleaning her teeth, which are in a pitiful state incidentally, almost comparable to Inouk’s in France… many of her teeth have been gnawed down to the flesh (page 7), which is just as painful for orcas as it would be for humans. This is the result of years in captivity: gnawing at the edges of the tanks, regurgitating numerous times due to stress, and not even using them to eat (everything is poured directly down their throat) (page 9). Furthermore, even care is given in a questionable way: a Betadine-type liquid is sprayed onto their teeth and runs down their lips (page 8)… but this liquid should not be ingested under any circumstance, which is inevitable! Ingrid Visser’s report further revealed that an open wound that she had on her tail for nine years has still not healed (page 14). That’s just life in a dolphinarium.

« The annual closure of the dolphinarium is a critical moment because no external witness is able to reveal any problems. We are very worried about what might happen to Kiska and the rest of the animals locked up behind closed gates at MarineLand Canada. We have not forgotten the tragic fate of Femke and the other dolphins sent from Parc Astérix (in France) to other European dolphinariums last year to continue to be exploited. » Muriel Arnal, One Voice’s President

A dilapidated dolphinarium in need of restoration? What about the animals?

Everything shows that the dolphinarium is deteriorating and that no investments have been made for years. Around the tanks and near the bear enclosures, there are numerous seagulls looking to grab what’s left of the belugas’ food from their “educational demonstrations” or what’s left of the brown bears’ food that has been distributed by visitors all day long. Droppings are spread all over the place and not cleaned up from one day to the next. On the edges of the tanks, on the ground, everywhere (page 38). There is a risk of numerous illnesses being transmitted to visitors and to children. The bears mope around in their enclosure, most of them stay away and even turn their backs on the visitors in a futile attempt to forget where they are. Two or three of the big eaters take a bath in front of the park’s clients who throw them food that they’ve bought at the kiosk just before.

The walruses, including Smooshi, previously one of the park’s attractions, have disappeared. What has happened to them?

Under the tanks, large dirty windows allow you to see the cetaceans. There are leaks everywhere and mud and algae grow at the joints. Signs indicate that the leaks are safe and that they should resolve on their own… the same signs photographed years before show the opposite is true (page 36)! Who are we kidding?

One of the signs, with attendance at half capacity (the few open rides are pretty much empty and so are the pathways), shows that the current owners may be looking to sell the park, including the animals. What will their fate be?

According to a local source, some of the most famous companies worldwide in the entertainment industry could be among the potential buyers… but this information remains to be confirmed.

«The number and the scope of the violations of Ontario Regulation 444/19 (NB: page 59) on animal welfare are considerable… it is recommended that the cetaceans are moved as soon as possible to a proper sanctuary by the sea.»Dr Ingrid Visser

There is a petition to free Kiska online. We are counting on you.

Sign the petition

Moana, a young orca in a pitiful state of health at Marineland in Antibes

Moana, a young orca in a pitiful state of health at Marineland in Antibes
23.11.2021
Alpes-Maritimes
Moana, a young orca in a pitiful state of health at Marineland in Antibes
Exploitation for shows

At Marineland in Antibes, just like his uncle (Inouk), mother (Wikie), and brother (Keijo), Moana goes round in circles in the filthy waters of the aging dolphinarium. Orcas can live for as long as humans. Yet Moana is 10 years old. And at his age, the sub-dermal wounds that we have photographed are very worrying. His state has worsened. Thanks to our images and to several visits to the park over the last few years, Moana has been studied and evaluated by Marine Biologist Dr Ingrid Visser, and by Dr Pierre Gallego, a veterinarian specialising in cetaceans. We are filing a complaint against the dolphinarium for acts of cruelty.

« The facility is small and in a bad state (and is deteriorating) and the poor quality of the water is worrying. I think that the data relating to Moana’s nutrition, health, behaviour, and aggression, as well as that related to the quality of the water, should be made accessible for independent orca experts. This would allow an accurate evaluation on the extent of the issues that Moana is faced with. » Dr Ingrid Visser PhD

A proposed law that is insufficient for orcas

As we reported two years ago, the risk of the French orcas from Marineland Antibes being sent to China remains. Even more so now that the law against animal mistreatment that has just been passed contains loopholes that allow it to get around that which it advises.

In fact, the law proposed that it is possible to keep orcas and dolphins in pools for research. But to study what exactly? How they suffer when they are cut off from the world? Illness among captive individuals? How to develop various diseases by imprisoning them?

« Moana’s state of health… is critical, and requires urgent treatment by a veterinarian. The pathological process which Moana seems to be a victim of is likely to put his life in danger » Dr Pierre Gallego

Moana is in poor health!

His chin, for example, is in a very bad state, as the numerous photographic snapshots from the report written by Dr Visser confirm (available for consultation at the bottom of the page). The colour of his skin has changed! And his state is worsening. The harmful state of the water is an exacerbating factor. He is also the target of the older orcas’ attacks, as is the case everywhere where cetaceans are kept in dolphinarium pools. It is one of the (many) problems of captivity.

Finally, the fact that they are going round and round in an environment that is too small and completely artificial, exacerbated by the absence of any depth, the poor quality of the water, the absence of choice, and difficulty in communication, creates a harmful strain on the orcas’ immune systems, which leads to them irreversibly developing mental and physical illnesses.

Little Ula at Loro Parque in Tenerife didn’t even last three years before dying. And in Marineland Antibes, we can no longer keep count of the number of deaths (Valentin) since it opened…

Our complaint to protect him

We have filed a complaint for acts of cruelty in relation to Moana, in which we have requested particularly that an independent investigation is carried out and for a precautionary foreclosure.

The precautionary foreclosure will allow the prohibition of all transportation as well as putting a stop to shows and experimentation. Also, he — and by extension Wikie, Keijo and Inouk — cannot risk being transferred, for example to China where they would be exploited more and more for shows. China is also a country that doesn’t have any regulations in terms of animal wellbeing. They will no longer be exploited for shows nor for “studies”, two activities which enforce them to do acts and sequences that they cannot choose… a very stressful way to train them.

We are also requesting that Moana is entrusted to our care so that one day we can transfer him to a marine sanctuary that we are in the process of creating with the best specialists in the world who have the necessary experience.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Moana, a 10-year-old male orca born in captivity, with subdermal tissue lesions

Download report written for One Voice by (Dr) Ingrid N. Visser