Shows at the Dolfinarium marine animal park in Harderwijk are in breach of at least 20 legal requirements, putting its licence in danger, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency RVO says in a document seen by RTL Nieuws.
The RVO, which checks the proper application of rules, said parts of the shows at the Dolfinarium are not in accordance with the animals’ natural behaviour, which is one of the conditions of the licence.
The park, which is home to dolphins, walruses and sea lions as well as sharks and fish, currently offers eight shows in which the animals can be seen up close and in some cases, stroked.
The list of unnatural behaviour includes dolphins which push trainers through the water with their noses, dolphins that jump onto the side of the basin, sea lions flapping their fins and a walrus that splashes water onto a person and “shakes his blubber” on command. “This is making clowns of the animals,” the RVO said in the document.
Another example, of a dolphin putting its nose in the neck of a trainer, suggest the animal is a pet that can be cuddled. Such treatment contravenes the educational purposes of the park, the RVO said.
The park, which had an earlier run-in with inspectors in 2021, has to adjust its shows before April 11 or face fines of up to €10,000 or even partial closure.
The RVO report is based partly on videos made last year by animal rights group association Bite Back which filed a compliance report with the organisation last summer. “It’s profit before animal welfare,” Bite Back spokesman Raymond Olivers told RTL.
“The rules of the agreement with the government are there in black and white but time and time again they are ignored. It’s important to get this out in the open,” he said. Recent videos made by visitors show that many of the same tricks are still being performed, Olivers claimed.
Dolfinarium director Alex Tiebot said in a written reaction that the RVO’s findings were contrary to those of safety watchdog NWVA in May last year, which he said concluded no unnatural behaviour took place during the shows.
“The RVO has now, based on videos made by third parties, given a different interpretation to parts of the presentations but has completely missed their educational context,” Tiebot said.
