Cyprus says no to dolphin import and dolphin therapy centre

The Marine Connection are delighted to hear that Cyprus has made a forward-thinking and responsible decision over applications to open a dolphin therapy centre in Cyprus. The government of Cyprus has refused the applications to develop a dolphin therapy centre which would require the import of dolphins and have stated that the importation of dolphins into Cyprus is 'strictly forbidden'.

The Marine Connection has written to the Minister of Agriculture and Cyprus Mail to applaud the government of Cyprus for taking this stand and refusing to open a dolphin therapy centre or import dolphins into Cyprus. See the letters we wrote:

Letter to Minister of Agriculture, Cyprus

Letter to Editor, published 4 August 2006, Cyprus Mail

Article in Cyprus Mail, 3 August 2006:
Association holds out hope for dolphin therapy centre

By Alexia Saoulli, Cyprus Mail

PARENTS OF children with Down's syndrome were left disappointed when the Agriculture Ministry turned down its request to set up a dolphin therapy centre.

"We are always looking for new ways to keep our children preoccupied and when we heard that dolphin therapy benefits children with Down's syndrome, we thought it would be a good way to entertain them," Michalis Louca, chairman of the Down's syndrome Association said.

"I don't know exactly how it helps, but the general concept from European and international associations is that it has been found to help. We wanted to give the children a chance. When you have a child and you know something will help him or her, then (as a parent) you will try to offer your child whatever you can within your reach and ability."

He said the association had even succeeded in securing a local businessman's backing for the proposal.

"We managed to get someone to invest in the project, someone who would cover the costs of building a special aquatic centre and pay for the importation of the dolphin. The same businessman said he would create jobs for Down's syndrome children at the centre," he said.

Louca told the Cyprus Mail the proposal's details had not been worked out pending the ministry's response."We wanted to see if the response would be positive or negative before going further."Louca said the association had thought to import two to three dolphins to start with.

"We'd have gone into detail if the government had said yes. There was also a suggestion that once the centre was up and running it could be used as a sort of aquarium and allow other people to pay an entrance fee to come in and see the dolphins so that the investor could recoup some of his money."

But the Agriculture Ministry turned down the association's application to import the aquatic mammals on the grounds that dolphins are a protected species under international treaties.

Senior Environment official Antonis Antoniou added: "The Cabinet also decided to ban the use of dolphins for any purpose."

The decision was reached several years ago following the death of four dolphins and a sea lion at an Ayia Napa marine park. The park had been allowed to deteriorate by its owners which resulted in the mammals' death. The International Animal Rescue (IAR) was alerted to the park's appalling conditions and in 2000 stepped in and saved the life of its one remaining sea lion.

However Louca said the association was currently in the process of determining to what extent the ban extended to using the marine creatures for therapy purposes.

He said: "Personally I think it's a small possibility [that we'll be granted the import licence] but we plan to exhaust all avenues. We've heard that there's something similar in Greece [a dolphin centre] and we want to examine if they've had any problems with the European Union. If they haven't and they're allowed to operate the centre long term then we'll look into it. If they're only allowed to operate it for a limited period of time then we won't bother with it [the project] anymore."

Antoniou said the association could try and reapply all it wanted but it would get nowhere.

"A political decision was made and it's strictly forbidden. There is no way they will be allowed to import the dolphins," Antoniou said.

Source: Cyprus Mail 2006