The campaign t-shirt and advertisement (by courtesy of Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore) "Say no to whalesharks in captivity" will be up for sale again at $7, starting 4 October!

International organisations join in

On 11 March 2009, international organisations Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) joined forces with local organisations The Green Volunteers, lovesharks.sg, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Cicada Tree Eco-Place to launch a public awareness campaign against the proposed import of whale sharks to Singapore's Resorts World At Sentosa.

As of 31 August 2009, 11,108 had signed the petition.

On 16 May 2009, it was reported in the Straits Times that Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) was scrapping its plan to exhibit whale sharks at its upcoming Marine Life Park. The report quoted that "RWS was hoping to back out of its original plan as it believes it may not be able to care for the animals." SPCA was delighted to hear this news, but is still awaiting confirmation from RWS that the plan is indeed scrapped.

There is no doubt that there will be other issues of concern to SPCA in relation to the Marine Life Park. Their plan to bring in wild-caught dolphins (which had earlier been reported in the Straits Times in December) is of great concern to the SPCA as there is much cruelty involved in the whole process - from being caught in the wild/transportation/training methods used/change in dietary habits (from hunting their food to being fed dead fish). SPCA wrote directly to RWS in January to request that it review and reverse its decision to bring in bottle nose dolphins. We also wrote to Forum page Straits Times and the letter was published 22 January (click here to read it).

Watch this page for further updates....