A number of Armenian NGOs plan to file a claim against the recently opened dolphinarium in Yerevan. According to the NGOs, the animals are abused there, Asbarez reports. The dolphinarium managers reject the accusations.

“This is a prison for animals, an exploitative circus, and we will not give up our fight,” asserted Silva Adamian, the chairperson of the Ecological Alliance, a group comprising 50 environmental, human rights non-governmental organizations and the opposition Heritage Party.

“We are going to bring a lawsuit soon and we will go to international courts,” she said.

“We wouldn’t like to see Armenia among the countries that treat dolphins in such a way,” said Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets Director Ruben Khachatrian.

“Chlorinated water might lead to blindness in several months, let alone the noise of whistles, extremely limited space and constant stress,” Khachatrian continued. “They won’t live long in these circumstances, and we will never know whether the animals have been replaced, or taken somewhere else because they are not registered anywhere.”