My church is considering building an aquarium right in our church. We want to take in sick or orphaned dolphins and provide rehabilitation for them until they are able to provide for themselves and then slowly reintroduce them back into their natural habitat. It would be completely ministry-based, however, we need to know what particular regulations, permits, and laws we need to follow. Any ideas? i.e. websites that can help, general information, contacts, etc…
#1 by AliDawn on February 6, 2010 - 2:31 am
You will need to speak with your state conservation department and USDA about that. It’s very doubtful they would be giving out such permits, and even more doubtful that your church would be able to afford such an undertaking. This is a project that will cost millions of dollars annually. It would be much more realistic for your church to volunteer your time helping with sick/injured/orphaned animals. Also, unless you have dolphin care/behavior experts at your church, you would have to spend money to hire people that are. It’s not like caring for rescued dogs, dolphins have very specific physical and mental requirements, and they are considered dangerous animals. Dolphin attacks on humans are not uncommon, especially in captivity. Also, unless you have church members who are very knowledgeable in maintaining marine life support systems, then again, you would have to hire people that are. And since your’re talking about sick and orphaned dolphins, what about vets?? You would spend hundreds of thousands more dollars per year just paying employees. And you would have to have insurance, which would be EXTREMELY high, especially considering that you would be having people not experienced with and not knowledgeable about dolphins interacting with them. Unless of course there are church members who have experience working with dolphins, or any professional education on dolphin care/behavior, which I have to doubt because otherwise you wouldn’t even be CONSIDERING such a venture.
I’m not trying to be mean or trying to discourage any type of ministry you feel called to do, however, I am trying to be realistic. The fact is, if you have the money and can prove you can build everything and obtain everything necessary for keeping dolphins, then you can do it, no matter what anyone tells you, you can obtain any animal in the world if you have the doe-ray-mee. However, it would be very strictly regulated by state and national organizations and would be shut down at the first sign that dolphins weren’t being cared for properly, or that people didn’t know what they were doing. Again, start with your state conservation department. I’m willing to bet that’s as far as you’ll get.
#2 by Patrick L on February 6, 2010 - 2:39 am
Don’t listen to that last guy, all you need is a water for them to swim in, beachballs for them to play with, and little fishies for them to eat. Take it from a pro. I have two dolphins.
#3 by SC on February 6, 2010 - 3:10 am
Your church’s money would best be spent donating it to an organization that already has the knowledge and foundation in place to care for such animals. There are plenty of good organizations which have staff, facilities, and knowledge of how to rehab dolphins but often don’t have the money to do as much as they’d like. I’d recommend doing research on groups that are really making a difference in this area and donating to them.