DOLPHIN TRAINER IS ACCUSED OF CRUELTY
By John Follain – Verona
Propelled by two female dolphins that press their noses against the soles of his feet, Simon Ede, their British trainer, darts across a bean shaped pool. At his whistle, the creatures give an extra push and hurl him over a rope.
It is the climax to the marine show at Gardaland, Italy’s biggest theme park, and draws screams of delight from the audience. But Ede, 39, is unable to savour the success he believes he has brought to the dolphinarium – the most popular attraction for the 3 million people who visit the park on the shores of Lake Garda in Northern Italy each year.
Instead, he is embroiled in an investigation by magistrates into allegations that Gardaland’s dolphins are trained with primitive methods involving starvation diets and solitary confinement, and that there is inadequate veterinary supervision.
Since his appointment as chief trainer early last year, two of Ede’s dolphins have died – Hector last September and Violetta a month later. A third, Amado, is now ill.
Judicial sources said last week that they expect Enrico Ghinato, Gardaland’s Chairman who has legal responsibility for the animals but who has denied any wrong doing, to go on trial. It is unclear whether other staff face charges.
For Gardaland, the allegations have an uncomfortable familiar ring. In August 1997 another dolphin Romeo, died from liver disease. Police claimed he had been kept on a starvation diet, isolated and drugged – but the case was settled out of court.
The present investigation has focused on the death of Violetta when she was 7 weeks pregnant. In October she refused to perform ball jumps and staff spotted a lump in front of her dorsal fin. Over the next few days she gradually stopped eating and became paralysed, one morning she was found drowned, floating belly-up in the pool.
Andrew Greenwood, a British vet, carried out an autopsy and found Violetta had a broken spine. Although he had never heard of such an injury before, he said nothing “unreasonable or unusual” was going on at the park.
Magistrates are unconvinced. They have ceased veterinary records and training schedules and have questioned staff, including Ede. They have also obtained copies of diaries purportedly kept by Ede when he worked at a dolphinarium in Brighton in the 1980’s which allegedly describe withholding food from a female dolphin to discipline her.
Ede denies there has been mistreatment at Gardaland. Hector had been middle-aged, he said, and suffered a heart attack, which was quite normal. “Violetta’s death is a mystery. I certainly did not beat her. There was no damage to her muscles or her skin so she wasn’t hit by somebody or by another dolphin” he said. “If dolphins are so intelligent and perceptive, and I am a bad guy, would they come up to me like this and kiss me?”
Italian animals rights activists insist that the animals in the park are suffering. Giulia Cordara, the head of Italy’s Animal & Nature Conservation Fund, said 'the dolphin pool cost a fortune and yet it is incapable of guaranteeing the survival of the creatures. Everywhere else in the world these parks are being closed -- but in Italy we are doing the opposite.'
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