Ric O’Barry: “Nizo­zemska, zatvori dupinarij!”

Ric O’Barry je pozvao Nizozemsku da zatvori dupinarij. Bivši trener Flippera i ključna figura zaštite dupina, svoj je poziv uputio Nizozemskom saboru, dok je tamo bio na sastanku. O’Barry misli da je držanje dupina u zatočeništvu nehumano i da je to jedna pogrešna vrsta obrazovanja.

Zaštitnik dupina Ric O’Barry je u srijedu 8. lipnja, na poziv zastupnika Franka Wassenberga (Stranka za životinje) i Rudmera Heerema (VVD, liberalna stranka), s saborom raspravljao o dupinariju. O’Barry, koji je – nakon što je nekoliko godina radio s dupinima – odlučio posvetiti svoj život da oslobodi i zaštiti inteligentne morske sisavace, tvrdi da su dupinariji maskirani cirkusi koji su loši za dobrobit životinja i koji djeci prenose pogrešnu poruku. Oni uče djecu da je prihvatljivo držati životinje u zatočeništvu i dominirati ih.

O’Barry tvrdi da se u životu ljudi i životinja radi o donošenju svojih vlastitih odluka. To je u suprotnosti sa životom dupina u zatočeništvu, koji se razvija u betonskom rezervoaru. U tom rezervoaru dupini nisu u stanju pokazivati svoje normalno ponašanje. O’Barry također sugerira da dupini u dupinariju slabo mogu komunicirati jedni s drugima, jer se zvuk njihovih sonara odbija u betonskom rezervoaru. O’Barry zato poziva Nizozemsku – ‘jedna od najnaprednijih zemalja u svijetu’ – da svijetu da dobar primjer i zatvori dupinarij. Svatko u Nizozemskoj može ovome doprinijeti ako prestanemo kupovati ulaznice za predstave sa dupinima. Stranka za životinje svim srcem podržava O’Barryev poziv.

Flipper
U 60-ima Ric O’Barry je i sam uhvatio pet dupina iz divljine i trenirao ih za popularnu televizijsku seriju Flipper. Kroz njegov kontakt s ovim društvenim i inteligentnim životinjama, O’Barry je promijenio svoje mišljenje. Od 70-ih on je, sa svojom porukom o štetnim učincima zatočeništva na dupine, probao da potakne što više ljudi.

Ric O’Barry has called on the Dutch Parliament to close the Dolphinarium in the Netherlands. The global figurehead of dolphin protection and former trainer of the famous dolphin Flipper made his appeal during a meeting of the Dutch Lower House. O’Barry believes dolphin captivity to be animal-unfriendly and he feels that it sends the wrong message to our children.

At the invitation of MPs Frank Wassenberg (Party for the Animals) and Rudmer Heerema (VVD), dolphin protector Ric O’Barry has addressed the Dutch Lower House on the subject of the dolphinarium on Wednesday 8 June. O’Barry, who had worked with dolphins for a few years before deciding to dedicate his life to the freeing and protecting of intelligent marine animals, claims that dolphinariums are disguised circuses that are bad for animal welfare and send the wrong message to our children: they are taught that the captivity and domination of animals is acceptable.

O’Barry argues that the lives of both humans and animals are about making one’s own decisions. This is at odds with the lives of dolphins in captivity, which are spent entirely inside a concrete container. In this container, dolphins are unable to express normal patterns of behaviour. O’Barry also states that communication is very difficult for dolphins in a dolphinarium, as the sound of their sonar reverberates in the concrete container. That is why O’Barry has called on the Netherlands – “one of the most progressive countries in the world” – to set an example for the world by closing the Dolphinarium. Everyone in the Netherlands can contribute by not buying a ticket to a dolphin show. The Party for the Animals strongly supports O’Barry’s appeal.

Flipper
In the sixties, Ric O’Barry caught five dolphins from the wild, and trained them for his popular TV show Flipper. However, his contact with these social and intelligent animals made him change his mind, and since the seventies, O’Barry has dedicated himself to reaching as many people as possible about the adverse effects of dolphin captivity.