Marriott: Free your dolphins!
- by: Care2 Team
- recipient: Arne Sorenson, President/CEO of Marriott International
Marriott has 40 dolphins living trapped in tiny cages in the Caribbean just to make a quick buck off them. Marriott's Atlantis resort boasts a host of swimming with the dolphin attractions at Dolphin Cay. Capturing dolphins and training them to entertain humans is cruel and it's costing Dolphins their happiness and sometimes their lives. As the popularity of traveling to The Caribbean to swim with the dolphins rises, it's time we ask Marriott to do the right thing. Sign your name to tell Marriott to close down this merciless "attraction" and set their dolphins free.
One local expert and activist said she cried when she saw the tiny cells where the Atlantis dolphins live. In addition to being too small, the walls are white concrete, and there is no coral or anything else for the Dolphins' enjoyment or comfort. Similar tourist hot-spots have been found to clean with so much chlorine that the Dolphins can go blind. Others aren't clean at all, and dolphins are living in toxic water. Some spots don't even have veterinarians on staff.
Training practices for dolphins are results driven, instead of animal welfare designed. At other dolphinariums, trainers left a whole day's food just outside of a dolphin's reach for three days to torture them. Trainers have dragged a net through the water where they live to scare the animals into submission. Some dolphins are even kept in isolation so they can be trained to obey commands. For social creatures, this isolation is excruciating.
These inhumane living conditions and training practices are the reward for the dolphins who survive the capturing process. Sadly, many dolphins will suffocate in the nets during capture. There have been reports of people throwing back injured and even dead dolphins. Also, tourist attractions like Marriott will pay more for certain breeds or female dolphins because they are easier to train. This human selection process is leaving the wild with proportions of species and genders that are not in the dolphin's best interest.
Marriot bought five of the dolphins living at Dolphin Cay from a Mississippi dolphinarium after Hurricane Katrina. The rest were either bred in captivity or cruelly captured. All forty of the dolphins will live in only 1% of the space they are meant to inhabit if we don't speak up. Sign this petition to tell Marriott to put the lives of their captive dolphins above the money in their pockets and close down Dolphin Cay.
Marriott has 40 dolphins living trapped in tiny cages in the Caribbean just to make a quick buck off them. Marriott's Atlantis resort boasts a host of swimming with the dolphin attractions at Dolphin Cay. Capturing dolphins and training them to entertain humans is cruel and it's costing Dolphins their happiness and sometimes their lives. As the popularity of traveling to The Caribbean to swim with the dolphins rises, it's time we ask Marriott to do the right thing. Marriott: close down this merciless "attraction" and set your dolphins free.
One local expert and activist said she cried when she saw the tiny cells where the Atlantis dolphins live. In addition to being too small, the walls are white concrete, and there is no coral or anything else for the Dolphins' enjoyment or comfort. Similar tourist hot-spots have been found to clean with so much chlorine that the Dolphins can go blind. Others aren't clean at all, and dolphins are living in toxic water. Some spots don't even have veterinarians on staff.
Training practices for dolphins are results driven, instead of animal welfare designed. At other dolphinariums, trainers left a whole day's food just outside of a dolphin's reach for three days to torture them. Trainers have dragged a net through the water where they live to scare the animals into submission. Some dolphins are even kept in isolation so they can be trained to obey commands. For social creatures, this isolation is excruciating.
These inhumane living conditions and training practices are the reward for the dolphins who survive the capturing process. Sadly, many dolphins will suffocate in the nets during capture. There have been reports of people throwing back injured and even dead dolphins. Also, tourist attractions like Marriott will pay more for certain breeds or female dolphins because they are easier to train. This human selection process is leaving the wild with proportions of species and genders that are not in the dolphin's best interest.
Marriot bought five of the dolphins living at Dolphin Cay from a Mississippi dolphinarium after Hurricane Katrina. The rest were either bred in captivity or cruelly captured. All forty of the dolphins will live in only 1% of the space they are meant to inhabit if we don't speak up. Marriot: put the lives of your captive dolphins above the money in your pockets and close down Dolphin Cay.
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