Depressed dolphin a tourist attraction??
 

Is a lone depressed dolphin a tourist attraction?
A lone male dolphin named Howard is swimming in circles in a pool that is smaller that the average private California swimming pool. His mate Mavis died in the same pool in July. Previously Mavis and Howard lost several of their babies (who couldn't survive in the small pool).
So where is this dolphin hell hole?
Why it is in West Edmonton Mall (WEM) - the largest shopping mall in the world - and touted as Alberta's top tourist attraction!!
The spokesperson for WEM said a decision about Howard's fate won't be made for months, even though a wildlife sanctuary in Florida has offered to take the dolphin.

So my question for all Fodorites is - would a depressed dolphin entice you visit Edmonton and WEM???

How sad:(
I hate all of those animals on display in too small cages all over the world!
Perhaps if there is a movement for the Dolphins like there was for Willy?
This would not stop me from visiting Edmonton but I would not visit that mall.

I was in Edmonton over a month ago and phoned the GM`s office and made my feelings known about the keeping of this dolphin in such conditions. I would not go to West Edmonton Mall.

From time to time I send another e-mail to [email protected] to remind them how shameful they are.

Thank you goldwyn. I wrote a letter also. If everyone wrote to this person at least once a week, you can bet he will start to think about what is going on there a little more seriously. Especially if the letters, like mine, let him know that as long as that dolphin is kept in those circumstances, that we and our friends will not come to that mall.

Thank you for letting us know. Borealis, goldwynn and Scarlett, how about calling a local or national TV station
Meanwhile, we will write a letter

i totally agree but please don't judge edmonton by one shopping mall. many of us who live here do not agree with the practice and do not spend our money at WEM.

I would never judge Edmonton by the actions of these people at that mall.

I would love to contact some television people, I will do some research, ask some people and see what can be done :)

http://www.westedmall.com/home/homepage.asp

Here is their website, you can write to their "marinelife educators"!
I wrote and asked them to send me some brochures on how they educate and who is the educator, what kind of credentials they have. We will see what they have to say.

It's reassuring to see that I'm not the only one upset about Howard.
I know that there are many truly serious problems in the world, and horrible conditions for people, let alone animals, but I feel that anyone who won't treat an animal fairly will not treat poeple fairly either.
And what a terrible example for children!!

This story made the local news in Edmonton today (that's how I found out about it), but not the national news in Canada (as far as I know). Apparently an animal welfare group (the name escapes me at the moment) is starting to organize a campaign to "free Howard".
Scarlett, goldwynn & Pat2003 - you have some great ideas for action!
I think that I will write to WEM management as well.

It's too bad that we can't find a way to get the story on the news in the US (the owners of WEM also own Mall of America in Minneapolis) - then the embarassment of making the news would undoubtedly make WEM management do some damage control and then perhaps they would act quickly.

Dolphins are like people, they are very social. I wonder how long Howard will survive by himself, still grieving for his mate??

Borealis-
Below is the email I wrote to the Mall of America..similar to the one that I wrote yesterday to the WEM. I will do more this weekend if I can. Just make all of your friends write to the malls..mention not spending money there, that is where it will hurt! Good luck!
This is what I wrote:

******
Having just found out that you also own or are associated with the West Edmonton Mall in Canada, I wish to let you know that as long as that poor dolphin is kept in the conditions that he is in, in that mall, that I and my friends will no longer visit your mall or the one in Canada.
I will write to my local paper here in New York City and tell them the story, I am sure my friends on CNBC will be happy to share the story on the air about the cruel way your Mall is using an animal to attract shoppers!
If in fact, this is a surprise to you, and you do not condone Cruelty to Animals, Please do let me know and do something about the West Edmonton, Canada, Mall and their seeming inability or reluctance to take that dolphin out of the mall and put it in a marine life facility where it can live a healthy life.
You may respond to me at this email address, I really would love to hear from you.

Getting Howard a bigger and more comfortable area might be a good idea. Freeing him might not.

Keiko the whale (the real-life counterpart to 'free Willy') is not acclimatizing all that well to his new 'home' in the wild. Perhaps all middle-aged mammals would have trouble trying to learn and adapt to an entirely different lifestyle from that into which they were born. I know I certainly wouldn't wish to try and live off the land (or the ocean) at this stage of my life.

CBC radio did a story about this dolphin about a week ago, although their approach wasn't quite serious enough as far as I'm concerned. The show is a network show presumably aimed at a young-ish audience, and this particular Saturday afternoon they were talking about the WEM. The onsite reporter described the dolphin situation in detail, and was certainly negative about it, but his slightly sarcastic approach didn't really acknowledge the tragedy of the situation. I'm always horrified when these beautiful animals are caged up and treated so disrespectfully, especially when their keepers suggest that this is some kind of valuable educational experience for kids. Ugh.

I just wanted to say thanks for posting this information- I came across this post last night and it was the first I'd heard about this poor creature.

CBC radio just did another story on this issue this morning on Sounds Like Canada. The expert that was interviewed agreed that Howard is being kept in very cruel circumstances. They repeat the interview tonight at 8pm for anyone out there who listens to CBC and is interested.

I'm writing an email to the GM of WE Mall this afternoon.

I got an answer to my email to the Mall of America.
SLarson says that they "are in no way associated with the WEM".

Hello Scarlett,

That SLarson comment gave me a good chuckle.

To see the connection, go to the Mall of America website, click on "Explore the Mall", then on History of the Mall, and voila!! - the connection to West Edmonton Mall is explained in detail (note that the Ghermezian brothers and Triple 5 are based in Edmonton, and are/were somehow tied together).

I know:) I did that before I wrote the email. Ah well, they are aware that people are unhappy if they are hiding the fact that they are associated with this. Maybe enough letters will drive them to do something besides deny it.

It's kind of disgusting that they would actually lie about it. But I guess that's no more disgusting than what they're doing to that poor animal in the first place.

According to www.canada.com, today they have aquired 'I think it was' 16 Flamingos. These are being stored in the basement until their 'pen' in the mall can be built.

Go figure. They replace a dolphin in a pool with flamingos in a cage.

Update on Howard the depressed dolphin ?
(from Edmonton local news)
There was a ?Free Howard? protest at West Edmonton Mall (WEM) this weekend.
Apparently WEM has hired a person ? now get this ? to deal with the complaints!
(I guess that must be cheaper than transporting Howard to Florida ??? )
Meanwhile Howard is still alone and still circling in the small pool.

Well, it's good to know that amount of public pressure exists. Hopefully they will soon be pressured into doing the right thing.