Back in February 2022, CAW was alerted to the disappearance of three dolphins at Mediterraneo Marine Park, which is a licensed Zoo situated in Baħar ic-Cagħaq.

“As the regulatory body responsible for the licensing of zoos in Malta, CAW requested clarifications and information regarding the whereabouts of these three dolphins from The Veterinary Regulations Directorate (VRD),” it outlined in the report.

“Following two months of lethargic responses from the VRD, CAW was informed that the three dolphins had in fact died back in August and September 2021, all three within the span of 20 days.”

Following the incident, “CAW was later informed that the VRD had conducted its own investigation and concluded that what occurred was a pure accident, therefore the operating license of the zoo was not affected, and no enforcement action was taken by the VRD,” the report reads.

“Initially, the VRD did not divulge the cause of death to CAW, but CAW discovered through third-party sources, that the most likely cause of death was lead poisoning.”

Finally, the CAW also appreciated that this was not a case of Mediterraneo Marine Park causing voluntary harm to animals or even one of blatant neglect, but a degree of negligence was involved on more than one occasion and therefore disagrees with the VRD’s assessment of it being a ‘pure accident’.

The Animal Commissioner also presented a number of recommendations in the report, to be taken on following this tragic incident. 

As part of the recommendations, it directly asked the VRD to conduct investigations within 48 hours of death at the zoo, regardless of whether foul play is suspected or not.

It also demanded that responses to CAW in queries and investigations regarding the welfare of animals should be replied to within a maximum of 72 hours, whereas in this case it took 86 days and countless emails, for the VRD to inform CAW that the dolphins had died due to lead poisoning.

What do you make of this new report?