Ravers Kill Dolphins in Captivity

Switzerland is home to a dolphinarium called Connyland. The only dolphinarium left in the country, in fact. Recently they hosted a rave on their grounds for whatever insane reason.

Animal activists warned that the loud music would pose a threat to the cetaceans’ sensitive hearing and immune systems, yet the park allowed the rave to occur anyway. Shortly thereafter two of their dolphins died slow and painful deaths.

Keeper Nadja Gasser recounted the event:

The death was very drawn out and painful. The death went on for over an hour. It was horrendous. I have not been able to sleep since. He was drifting under the water and was clearly in trouble and so we jumped into the water. We tried to hold him. He was shaking all over and was foaming at the mouth. Eventually we got him out of the water. His tongue was hanging out. He could hardly breath. He was given adrenalin, but it didn’t help. After an hour the dolphin died.

An investigation is underway, but everything points to narcotics being ingested by the dolphins. Narcotics which were thrown into their enclosure during the rave.

There is a petition at change.org demanding the closure of Connyland. I encourage you to read the petition letter and support it with your signature.

Act Now to Help Dolphins

So there are two really important things happening right now in the world of dolphins, and they both involve the lives of 25 dolphins held in captivity:

First, Change.org is accepting signatures in an attempt to send a message to Mastercard. They are currently running a promotion with Resorts World Singapore who is housing a 25 dolphins (27 before 2 died) in holding pens awaiting their life in enslaved entertainment for humans.

Collected signatures will be delivered to Mastercard, asking them to end their promotion with RWS given their participation in the dolphin trade.

Second, last week the government of the Solomon Islands—a major provider of dolphins for the entertainment industry—announced they will ban all dolphins exports as of January 1st, 2012. It is unclear, however, if the 25 dolphins they have in captivity will be exported to China per existing plans. My guess is their ban date is intentionally set so that it will not interfere with the said export to China.

I suggest contacting the Solomon Islands government to apply pressure against exporting their dolphins. If they’ve made the right ethical decision, they should begin acting today, not in three months.

So there you go, people. Let’s act now.