Romania ponders giving dolphins ‘human rights’
17 Feb 2014 3:37 AM IST
The 39-year-old activist politician introduced a bill in parliament last week that would recognise the marine mammals as ‘non-human persons’, on account of their highly developed intelligence, personalities and behaviour patterns.
The bill, which will be debated in the Romanian upper house in the coming weeks, would make humans and dolphins equal before the law. Dolphin killers would be given the same sentences as murderers of human beings. The bill would also ban the use of dolphins in live entertainment shows.
The aim of the bill is to help protect Romania’s indigenous dolphins in the Black Sea, Cernea said. It would also add the country’s voice to a global movement against dolphin killings.
To back his cause, Cernea has received a letter of support from American filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, famed for a 2009 documentary, The Cove, about dolphin hunting in Japan.
But gathering domestic support may be tough in a year when Romania goes to the polls twice, first in the European elections in May and later to vote for a new president.
The bill, which will be debated in the Romanian upper house in the coming weeks, would make humans and dolphins equal before the law. Dolphin killers would be given the same sentences as murderers of human beings. The bill would also ban the use of dolphins in live entertainment shows.
The aim of the bill is to help protect Romania’s indigenous dolphins in the Black Sea, Cernea said. It would also add the country’s voice to a global movement against dolphin killings.
To back his cause, Cernea has received a letter of support from American filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, famed for a 2009 documentary, The Cove, about dolphin hunting in Japan.
But gathering domestic support may be tough in a year when Romania goes to the polls twice, first in the European elections in May and later to vote for a new president.
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