Breaking! France Takes A Giant Step Backward & Overturns Ban On Breeding Dolphins In Captivity

In what many animal advocates are calling “a historic step backward,” France’s highest administrative court overturned a hard-earned ban on the breeding of dolphins in captivity.

The decree, which was signed last year by the previous government’s environment minister, Ségolène Royal, was sadly annulled yesterday on technical grounds.

The ordinance approved by Royal had also ordered the size of the pools to be increased and imposed a ban on using chlorine in their water in order to “end animal suffering”

According to RFI, the original proposal was altered from a “tight control” over dolphin breeding to a total ban after a consultation procedure had ended.

France’s Council of State argued that the ban had initially only been recommended for orcas and ruled that “given the threat to the future of aquatic parks” the change should not have been made without further consulting with the owners of the facilities.

But animal rights campaigners called it a “historic step backward” and appealed to the government to issue the decree again after going through the correct procedure.

Meanwhile, Pascal Picot, the head of the Marineland park on the Côte d’Azur, declared in a statement that the ruling was “excellent news for our animals and France’s zoological parks.” Really?

Marineland, Paris’s Parc Astérix, and Planète Sauvage were among the parks that argued that the move could result in putting them out of business and joined forces in western France in challenging the former order in court.

Royal shared with a tweet that she had “lived up to her responsibilities” after being made aware of the “mistreatment” of dolphins, who are “drugged and starved to make them perform, which the spectators don’t know.”

Animal welfare should be inscribed in our law to change our jurists’ mentalities, Royal also rightly stated.

Don‘t Support Wild Animals Held Captive For Human Entertainment. Pledge Not To Buy A Ticket!