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Belize Swim-with-the-Dolphins Attractions |
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| October 23, 2007
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| The HSUS |
| Captive dolphins. | There is bad news from Belize. The situation: The Hugh Parkey Foundation, a Belizean conservation organization, was founded in 2003 by Teresa Parkey. Teresa is the widow of Hugh Parkey, a diver and explorer who was much admired in Belize. Unfortunately, Teresa Parkey was persuaded by a dolphinarium in Honduras, Anthony's Key Resort, to finance the environmental education center she wished to establish in her husband's name—a laudable project—with the proceeds from a swim-with-the-dolphins attraction. A concerted effort by local and international NGOs, including the Belize Audubon Society and The HSUS/HSI, failed to convince her that these two operations were not ethically consistent. The government permitted the dolphinarium to be built—requiring the dredging of a mangrove area—on Spanish Caye, adjacent to the education center, and it opened for business in 2006, exhibiting four captive-born dolphins imported from Honduras.
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