Thomas Cook bombarded with demands to stop selling dolphin swimming trips
Animal lovers have taken to social media to demand that the travel agent stop selling dolphin swimming trips
ANIMAL lovers are bombarding Thomas Cook's social media pages with demands for the travel agent to stop selling holidays that involve swimming with dolphins.
The agent's Facebook page has been inundated with complaints, with many saying that the firm is supporting the captivity of dolphins for profit.
Carol Hamilton said: "Why's your company condoning the cruelty inflicted on dolphins held in parks? Dolphins do not belong in captivity. Were are your ethics and humanity? Or is money the only thing that concerns your company?"
While Jade Thomas commented: ";Please stop making parents and children think that seeing dolphins in captivity is good. Your profit is not worth their misery."
A social media campaign with the hashtag #DropTheDolphin was trending this morning on Twitter, with many jumping onboard the trending tag to plead with the company to stop supporting swim with dolphin activities.
It appears to be part of a wider plan to protest outside of a Thomas Cook branch in Marble Arch in May.
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Excursions to swim with captive dolphins are advertised by the travel firm as part of packages to holidaymakers.
The Sun Online reported late last year on a calling on Thomas Cook to stop promoting dolphin swimming trips, which now has more than 168,000 signatures.
It states that the “seemingly harmless” activity is actually “cruel and inhumane”.
The petition adds that dolphins are often “stolen from the wild” and despite being highly intelligent social beings they are “forced to live in confined and artificial conditions”.
Katie Bashford, an animal welfare activist who started the petition told The Sun Online: “There is just no doubt about how intelligent these animals are.
“They are stolen from the ocean and a life in captivity is never going to be the same.
“Thomas Cook is such a big travel agency it should be leading the way on this instead of misleading naive tourists.”
A spokesperson for Thomas Cook said: “Our animal welfare policy makes sure that we won’t sell any attractions which don’t comply with ABTA guidelines.
"We know that for many people, animals in captivity of any form is unacceptable.
"The unfortunate reality is that many captive animals cannot safely be returned to the wild, so we’re committed to putting pressure on existing attractions to raise the standards of care for all animals.”
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