September 7, 2006

The Honorable Maximiliano Puig Miller Secretary of State for the Environment and Natural Resources Ave. Tiradentes, Edificio La Cumbre Santo Domingo DOMINICAN REPUBLIC c/o Maggy Ortiz mortiz@medioambiente.gov.do

Dear Dr. Puig: On behalf of the more than 9.5 million members and constituents of The Humane Society of the United States and its international arm, Humane Society International (HSUS/HSI), I would like to thank you very much for your decision to prohibit the import of live dolphins into the Dominican Republic for the purposes of public display. We read about this action in a newspaper article and wished to express our strong appreciation for your principled stand in the face of opposition from commercial interests in your country. We understand that Manati Park in particular has protested this decision, claiming it might result in the closing of its dolphin facility. However, if Manati Park cannot maintain its dolphin collection with captive breeding and must instead reply on importing animals from abroad, then perhaps it is time for the facility to phase out its dolphin display altogether. Transport of dolphins is extremely stressful for these aquatic mammals and most of the dolphins being imported to the Dominican Republic come from Cuba, where the dolphins are captured from the wild. These captures are demonstrably traumatic and can result in deaths and social disruption; in addition, Cuban authorities have not based their capture quotas on good science and thus may be depleting the stocks of dolphins inhabiting their country’s waters. Your decision to ban dolphin imports has placed the Dominican Republic in a leadership role in the Caribbean. Other nations in the Caribbean should look to your government as a shining example of responsible resource management, adding this action to your agency’s previous decisions to establish marine protected areas and to develop research and conservation projects focused on Dominican marine resources. With this decision to ban imports, you have chosen not to participate in an inhumane and almost certainly unsustainable trade in live dolphins. The HSUS/HSI thanks you again for this forward-thinking and progressive action. Sincerely, Patricia A. Forkan President Cc: Lic. Daneris Santana, Undersecretary of State for Protected Areas and Biodiversity Lic. Ydalia Acevedo, Undersecretary of State for Coastal and Marine Resources