Alesha Dixon joins a whole host of other celebs calling on TUI to stop dolphin cruelty

Alesha Dixon is one of many TV stars to have called out TUI Group on dolphin cruelty.

The 'Britain's Got Talent' judge has called on the travel giant to stop making a profit from dolphin entertainment and, along with Bella Ramsey, Gail Porter, and Dame Joanna Lumley, has signed an open letter on behalf of World Animal Protection.

She said: "TUI you are the last major tour operator in the UK selling tickets to dolphin entertainment. Dolphins are not entertainers they are sentient wild animals. Enough is enough. Join the other tour operators and stop profiting from this cruelty."

The former Mis-Teeq singer was joined by 'Dragon's Den' star Deborah Meaden, who simply "can't believe" that something like this is going on at this point in time.

She said: "I really can’t believe in this day and age we still have to point out the cruelty. Do the right thing TUI and do as your competitors have done and stop selling tickets to these cruel and exploitative attractions"

Evanna Lynch - who is best known for starring as Luna Lovegood in the 'Harry Potter' films but is also Global Ambassador for the animal rights organisation - also got in on the action, as she

She said: ", “It is truly shameful that TUI is still choosing to take part in such an obviously cruel and outdated practice as captive dolphin ‘entertainment’. TUI it’s time to do the right thing and stop putting profit over animal welfare.”

The campaign comes after easyJet holidays announced that they would not sell tickets to any captive wildlife attractions including captive cetacean venues, and Jet2 promised they would stop selling captive dolphin venues, while Virgin Holidays, Expedia Group, Booking.com and Airbnb have all long since committed to never selling tickets for these cruel and exploitative attractions .

Tricia Croasdell, World Animal Protection, CEO said, “The longer that influential companies like TUI Group continue promoting and selling tickets to captive dolphin entertainment, the worse the problem becomes. Selling tickets to such venues means more whales and dolphins are being bred into environments where they will never be able to thrive or carry out their natural behaviours. TUI has said that they know it is controversial and that more of their customers would rather see wild animals in the wild, so why are they stalling on this? The only reason can be profit and it is inexcusable for a multi-million-pound company to put profit before compassion.

“We need to make this the last generation of dolphins in captivity, and we need companies like TUI Group to stop propping up the industry before that can happen.”

https://action.worldanimalprotection.org.uk/tell-tui-group-stop-profiting-dolphin-cruelty