Last week 34 different international organizations came together to sign an open letter to the Barcelo Group about their animal welfare concerns regarding their dolphin tank in Mexico.
The Barcelo Hotel group owns 220 hotels worldwide, yet sadly in one of their Mexican hotels they have a tiny dolphin tank. The dolphin tank is owned by The Dolphin Company. The Dolphin Company has a terrible reputation worldwide, being indicated in money laundering, law breaking in the Caribbean and a plethora of animal abuse scandals. Just recently The Dolphin Company was ordered to close one of its marine parks in the USA due to negligence in animal care. We expect the same animal welfare abuse is happening inside the Barcelo Hotel.
Barcelo had 2/5 dolphin deaths in one year alone!
The dolphin tank in Barcelo Maya Grand Resort, Playa Del Carmen, is one of the smallest tanks in Mexico and two dolphins died in this substandard tank in one year alone. The letter highlights animal welfare concerns such as:
There is no shade for the dolphins and the dolphins are going blind
The animals are stressed and taking the stress out on each other causing them to injure each other.
The Barcelo tank is one of the smallest in Mexico only around two meters deep
The hotel often hosts music festivals and raves which exposes the animals to loud music for often several days in a row.
The Letter calls on The Barcelo Group to close the dolphinarium immediately and send the dolphins back to the Dolphin Company.
The letter was put together by 4 organizations from Spain, UK and Mexico and has been supported by 30 more organizations worldwide, including The Dolphin Project, Marine Connection, World Cetacean Alliance, Urgent Seas, The Whale Interpretative Center and The Orca Network.
The full list of organizations and pressure groups that signed on to the letter to Barcelo is here:
Animal Heroes México
Dolphin Freedom UK
Océanos De Vida Libre Spain
MAREA México
COMARINO México
Dolphin Project U.S.A
Until Lolita Is Home UK
Marine Connection UK
PETA Latino U.S.A
Urgent Seas Canada
Empty The Tanks México
Keiko the Untold Story USA
Jonian Dolphin Conservation Italy
Freedom For Animals UK
Ocean Peace Mexico
Associacio Cetacea Spain
Agenda Del Mar Colombia
Oceavida Spain
Oceanmar Project Germany
Michael Reppy Double Bay Sanctuary U.S.A/Canada
Ecos de Mar Argentina
Derechos Animales Marinos Argentina
Activistas Animalistas de la Costa Argentina
Mares de México México
Proyecto Galgo Argentina
The Orca Network USA
The Whale Interpretative Center Canada
World Cetacean Alliance USA
The translation for the letter which was sent to the Directors of the Barcelo group in Spain and Mexico is here
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