Montini: Yes, you CAN do something about disgusting dolphin prison near Scottsdale
A woman from Scottsdale left a message on my voicemail saying she was angry with me for “getting me all upset about a place that disgusts me but that I can’t do anything about.”
I understand her feelings, and empathize with her disgust, but I can’t apologize because there is something she can do about the place that disgusts her.
Locking up smart(er) mammals
It’s called Dolphinaris, a friendly-sounding name for a dolphin prison in the middle of our desert, just beyond Scottsdale's border. It's a water-filled concrete-walled Alcatraz for aquatic mammals second only to us in brain power, although perhaps with more empathy.
I can’t imagine dolphins locking humans into a cell and charging other dolphins an exorbitant amount of money to mingle with us, using the lame excuse that interacting with the inmates is good for our species.
That’s how Dolphinaris, the Mexico-based company behind this atrocity, tries to justify its money-grubbing enterprise.
The company’s website says: “The mission of Dolphinaris Arizona is to amaze, inspire, and empower guests, encouraging them to become stewards of the oceans and its inhabitants. We hope to deepen respect for dolphins and our natural world, and encourage visitors to take actions, large and small, that can make a difference.”
The show is all about one thing
What they’re really trying to do, of course, is make money.
Patrons will fork over from around $50 to $175 each to interact in pools with dolphins. The facility is supposed to open sometime this summer.
The watery gulag is being constructed just east of Scottsdale on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
That’s why we can’t do anything to stop it – legally.
RELATED:5 questions about new dolphin exhibit
Shame on them.
The general manager of the facility told one reporter, “Only the President of the United States has better health care than these animals are going to receive.”
Then again, the president gets to venture beyond the fences surrounding the White House.
National Aquarium is nixing captivity
Not long ago the non-profit National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md., said it was relocating its captive dolphins to an ocean sanctuary.
The aquarium released a statement reading in part: "We now know more about dolphins and their care, and we believe that the National Aquarium is uniquely positioned to use that knowledge to implement positive change. This is the right time to move forward with the dolphin sanctuary."
That’s the bottom line.
We know more about dolphins.
They don’t belong in prison.
What you can do to help
And while we can’t stop the Dolphinaris from being built there are things we can do. An group called Empty the Tanks is working with volunteers who protest near the facility, even in the heat. There is an online petition condemning the place. And there is our disgust. Vocally expressed. Persistently expressed. To everyone and anyone who even thinks about going there. Perhaps loud enough to shame the gullible or the ignorant into not patronizing the cruel business.
Why?
Because we know more about dolphins.
We know they are complex creatures, like us.
Family oriented. Social. Smart.
Smart enough to know the difference between the open ocean and a concrete enclosure.
Smart enough to know that a prison -- even with good health care -- is still a prison.