Open Letter To Presidential Candidates About RWS' Wild-Caught Dolphins Saturday, 20th Aug 2011, by Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES) Visit Website    |    View Original Article

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From: Louis Ng (ACRES) 

Sent: Monday, 15 August, 2011 1:19 PM

To: 'media@tanjeesay.com'; 'info@tanjeesay.com'; 'media4tkl@gmail.com'; 'kinlian@gmail.com'; 'info@tankinlian.com'; 'press@TanChengBock.org'; 'pa@tanChengBock.org'; 'press@tonytan.sg'

Subject: Open Letter: Voters concerns - Your views with regard to RWS' plan to house dolphins at their attraction

Dear Presidential Candidates,

OPEN LETTER: VOTERS CONCERNS - YOUR VIEWS WITH REGARD TO RWS' PLAN TO HOUSE DOLPHINS AT THEIR ATTRACTION

I hope this email finds you well.

1. I am writing to you from ACRES, a Singapore-based charity and Institution of Public Character, founded by Singaporeans in 2001 with the aim of promoting animal welfare.
2. Singaporeans go to the polls on 27th August to elect our new President. As a Presidential Candidate, we hope you will share your views with voters with regard to RWS' plan to house dolphins at their attraction. We will be delighted to share your views with voters through a press release we will be issuing, and also through social media with our over 670,000 supporters for this campaign.
3. Singaporeans are increasingly concerned about animal welfare issues, and Prime Minister Lee spoke about animal welfare issues during the National Day Rally last night as well.
4. ACRES launched the “Save the World’s Saddest Dolphins” campaign in May 2011, to urge RWS to shelve their plans to house dolphins at their attraction (www.saddestdolphins.com).
5. Between 2008 and 2009, RWS damaged Singapore’s good international reputation by buying 27 wild-caught Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) from the Solomon Islands. In 2010, two of the dolphins died whilst undergoing training, despite the top-class care that RWS had promised.
6. Local and international outrage has been growing. We have gained a tremendous amount of coverage in local and international media. CNN covered the campaign in a programme which was aired internationally on 5th August 2011 (http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/08/05/jvm.dolphin.hln?iref=allsearch).
7. Mexican Senator Jorge Legorreta Ordorica (Chairman, Committee of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries) was so dismayed at the plans of RWS that he wrote to Singapore’s National Development Minister about it. Senator Jorge wrote that Mexico's international reputation was dented as a result of its importing 28 Solomon Islands dolphins in 2003. At least 12 of the dolphins have since died. You can view the letters here: http://www.saddestdolphins.com/support/image/Sen%20Legorreta%20to%20Minister%20Mah%201.jpg; http://www.saddestdolphins.com/support/image/Sen%20Legorreta%20to%20Minister%20Mah%202.jpg
8. UPS, which transported the first shipment of RWS dolphins from the Solomon Islands to The Philippines, said it would stop moving this kind of cargo, as the practice violated its environmental principles.
9. Other progressive countries such as Chile and Costa Rica have banned the capture and display of dolphins, recognising that these animals belong in the vast open oceans
10. In less than 3 months, more than 670,000 people in Singapore and worldwide have joined ACRES in urging RWS to release the dolphins back into the wild.
11. ACRES firmly believes that the economic progress of Singapore and expanding our tourism potential is important. However, this should not be done at the expense of the welfare of animals and our moral progress. As eloquently put forth by Ghandi “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
12. I do understand that you have a busy schedule, but I hope that you will spend some time to review this important issue that voters are concerned about and provide your views on it.
13. Please let me know if you need any further information. I look forward to your reply.
14. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Louis Ng (MSc)

Executive Director

ACRES (Animal Concerns Research and Education Society)

www.acres.org.sg

91 Jalan Lekar

Singapore 698917

(O): +65 6892 9821

(F): +65 6892 9721