As a college student, you can do so many things to raise awareness for animals. Some students start official student groups for animal rights, some hand out leaflets, and some build elaborate art installations in order to put their fellow students in the shoes of animals abused for entertainment.
Wait—what was that last one?
That’s right—this weekend, students at Bard College in New York will be able to experience at least some of the cruelty involved in keeping dolphins captive.That’s because for her capstone project, Samantha Rosenbaum erected a dark, cramped walk-in display—complete with ankle-high “unclean” water—to create the perception of the concrete tanks that cetaceans are put in at amusement parks and aquariums.
There will also be images displayed through a film projector as well as information about how intelligent, free-living dolphins suffer when they’re taken from their ocean homes and forced to perform tricks for a reward of dead fish.
Facts about dolphins:
- Dolphins suffer terribly in captivity. Even if some captive animals do live as long as their free-roaming counterparts, they live in a virtual bathtub.
- Dolphins and whales are highly intelligent, social beings who travel up to 50 miles a day in the ocean. Confining them to tiny tanks and forcing them to perform inane tricks is cruel.
- One of the common training methods for dolphins includes attempts to increase their motivation through food deprivation.
- Real dolphin conservation can be achieved through efforts to abolish whaling, clean up our oceans, end driftnet fishing, and prohibit live captures—not by forcing these magnificent beings to swim endless circles and do stupid tricks for our entertainment.
With so many ways to help animals on your campus, it’s easier than ever to get involved. E-mail [email protected] to get started!
Could you live in your bathtub?