In Verona, a sea lion was found prisoner in a circus container transformed into a tank, immersed in a few centimeters of dirty water and without any possibility of swimming or seeing sunlight. Isolated from any contact with his fellow humans, he lived in dramatic hygienic-sanitary conditions, light years away from the natural environment that his species requires to survive.
The situation was discovered thanks to LAV, which through the Verona anti-mistreatment office documented the incredible violation of the animal’s rights and reported the case to the Carabinieri of the CITES unit in Rome and to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Verona.
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The seizure and release of the sea lion
After the complaint, the search and seizure decree was triggered and the sea lion was finally brought to safety. The images of his recovery show an exhausted animal, but free for the first time in who knows how long from that steel cage on wheels.
According to Annarita D’Errico, national manager of LAV for anti-mistreatment offices, this is “yet another case in which the logic of profit and exploitation prevails over the dignity of a living beingThe story, he underlines, demonstrates how collaboration between associations and authorities can make a difference.
LAV’s complaint: “Enough animals in circuses”
LAV is now calling for the 2022 Enabling Law to be finally implemented, which provides for the overcoming of the use of animals in circus shows. To date, however, the implementing decrees that would make this transition concrete are still missing.
As Giulia Giambalvo, head of the exotic animals area at LAV, recalled, “in a civil society it is not acceptable for sentient beings to be deprived of their fundamental rights“. The sea lion, now safe, will at least be able to find a minimum of ethological well-being. But his story remains a warning against a type of entertainment that, in 2025, smacks of cruelty more than art.
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