Another important letter to the authorities for Kaş dolphins

Subject: Information application about the working status of the dolphin park in Kaş with images and documents.

To the Kaş Municipality,
Kaş District Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Livestock,
Antalya Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Livestock,
all other relevant authorities:

Dear Sir/Madam,

On 12th November 2011, information was obtained from the Mayor of Kaş that four dolphins were being kept in the facility without an application for working permission. In the information meetings on 19th December 2011 and 20th April 2012 in Kaş, Abdullah Gültekin, the Mayor of Kaş, stated that no application to open and operate a dolphin park had been received and, if an application was made, it would be discussed with local NGOs and he would do what was necessary to prevent the facility from opening.

Unfortunately, by 20th May 2012, we started to get information, documents and video footage that the facility has opened. Cages are painted and parasols are in place, a pricelist is set and flyers have been distributed to several companies in Kaş. We present them attached as evidence (the flyer is two sided).

Mr. Cemal, whose name is on the flyer, gave this information on the phone: “We make a 10 minutes swim with the dolphins although the international standard is 4 minutes. The price is 100TL, 20TL of which is the hotel personnel commission. Patting and feeding from the platform is 40TL, 10TL of which is the hotel personnel commission“.

In the light of this information and the documents, we expect answers from the relevant authorities to the following questions.

1. Did the Kaş Municipality allow the opening of this facility by giving them a working permission? We expect a written statement from the Mayor of Kaş. If permission has been given, we demand a copy of the licence with information about the date and the scope of the permission.

2. Although we have had answers to our previous letters to the Kaş District Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, we have never received an answer to our question about the legal infrastructure. So, we repeat this question: Which law enables the management of this facility to: keep the dolphins in the pens; open the doors to customers; distribute a pricelist; make money merely by letting people watch the dolphins and put the facility to work without any permission from the Municipality?

3. With all these illegal actions, why is no enforcement taking place using the provisions of the Animal Protection Law, item 5199 and the Bern Convention. Why have the relevant authorities not yet seized the dolphins?

4. The public authorities from the Antalya Governorship came to Kaş in the last week of March 2012 to make an inspection and start an investigation about the dolphins. Who comprised this expert committee? What report has been given by these experts? What was the decision? We request the information as an answer to our application and to keep the public informed as the investigation was reported in the press. See (http://www.sabah.com.tr/YesilEkran/2012/03/28/yunuslarin-ozgurluk-mucadelesi).

We demand to get answers to the questions given above under the law for obtaining information.

Yours faithfully,

İsim-Soyad (Name-Surname)…………….
TC Kimlik no (ID number – if applicable)……….
Province-City……………

Ekler (attachments)

1. 20 Mayıs 2012 tarihinde Kaş yunus gösteri merkezinde çekilen video görüntülerinden alının bir ekran görüntüsü (şemsiyeler ve masalar eklenmiş)  
2. Mayıs’ın son haftası Kaş’taki otellere ve işletmelere dağıtılan tanıtım broşürleri

İlgili bağlantılar (relevant links)
http://yunuslaraozgurluk.com/yunus-bilimsel-veriler-gosteri-terapi
http://yunuslaraozgurluk.com/resmi-yanit-kas-yunus-fok-gosteri-merkezi
http://yunuslaraozgurluk.com/kas-yunus-parki-resmi-yanit2-ruhsat
http://yunuslaraozgurluk.com/Kasta-yeni-yunus-parki-dilekce
http://yunuslaraozgurluk.com/Kastaki-dernekler-yunuslara-ozgurluk-icin-birlesti
http://yunuslaraozgurluk.com/Kas-eylemi-21-21-Nisan-2012