Horrific images have been shared online showing dolphins being forced onto land so people can take photos with them.
Campaign group the Movement to End Animal Circuses in Indonesia shared photos on their Facebook page on December 31 of visitors posing with the mammals for pictures at a circus in Tangerang, Indonesia.
The dolphins had been forced out of the pool to allow the visitors to take photos and stroke them which can have dire consequences to the animals’ health.
Calling on the government to outlaw this, the group wrote alongside the photos:
Dolphins are forced out of the water so visitors can touch them. This action can injure the dolphins. Their delicate skin rubs against the rough floor surface and guardrail.
The photos taken on December 9 in Tangerang.
Please stand with us in protesting against animal performances in Indonesia. There is still a lot of work to do. But we cannot afford to ignore what is going on around us. Change starts with small steps. We will never give up on animals.
They then called on people to write to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to ask them to put a stop to animal circuses in Indonesia providing the address and emails to contact.
Later on in the Facebook post the group explained how circuses using animals for ‘the sake of entertainment rather than education’ was a form of animal abuse.
In an interview with The Dodo, animal conservationist Femke Den Haas, founder of Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), added that circus animals suffer day after day.
She also explained how forcing dolphins out of water for long periods of time could have a severe impact on their health saying:
They go blind. It’s like when you go in the pool, and after an hour, your eyes hurt because you’re exposed to chlorine all the time. And they get skin diseases and they also get ulcers because chlorine gets into their body.
The dolphins are also forced to perform tricks in tiny temporary pools which are filled with chlorinated water which can also affect their health.
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