PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2005

DEATH OF HOWARD THE DOLPHIN HIGHLIGHTS PERIL OF CAPTIVITY
ARFF Urges People Not to Support the Captivity of Dolphins

(Florida) - The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) urges people not to patronize marine parks, aquariums, or zoos holding dolphins in captivity. That plea is heightened in response to the recent death of Howard, a dolphin at Theater of the Sea in Islamorada.

Howard was moved to Theater of the Sea about a year ago and was the last of the controversial performing dolphins from the West Edmonton Mall in Canada. In 1985, Howard, along with three other members of his pod were captured off the coast of Florida and sold to the mall where they were forced to perform for noisy shoppers. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, another three dolphins from the pod were killed during the violent capture. By 2003, all three of Howard’s companions and their five offspring had died, leaving Howard languishing alone in the mall’s pool until his transfer to the Florida Keys last year. Howard was 26 years old, middle-aged, for a bottlenose dolphin, and the cause of his death is still uncertain. However, in the year prior to his transfer, Howard’s unhealthy and abnormal conditions led him to exhibit physical signs of stress in the form of stomach ulcers and lack of appetite; all too common symptoms observed in captive dolphins.

In their natural habitat, dolphins can live to be 50 years old, but more than half of all dolphins confined in marine parks die within the first two years of captivity; the remaining dolphins live an average of only five years. Toni Frohoff, a marine mammal behavioral biologist suspects stress is behind some illnesses and deaths at marine attractions. “It has been documented that dolphins in c

aptivity can exhibit self-inflicted trauma, behaviors that are analogous to pacing, and excessive aggressiveness towards people,” she said. Other common causes of death include, capture shock, pneumonia, chlorine poisoning, starvation, drowning, and heat.

“The bottom line is that dolphins are highly social, intelligent, and free-ranging animals who should not be held under the extremely unnatural conditions that exist in captivity,” said Holly Bowman, ARFF Captive Exotic Animal Specialist. “But as long as there are paying customers to sustain the huge profits of this industry, dolphins will continue to be captured from the wild and subjected to inhumane treatment.”

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