The Perfect Pair: The Dolphin Trilogy Book Series
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WE INVITE ALL ACTIVISTS TO SUBMIT BLOGS ON THEIR CHOSEN CAUSE.
THIS BLOG PAGE IS NOT ONLY ABOUT CETACEAN RIGHTS.
​ IT IS ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF ANIMALS EVERYWHERE.

UNDERGROUND PRESS GIVES PLATFORM TO THE PERFECT PAIR DOLPHIN TRILOGY'S FORMER HEAD TRAINER AND WHISTLE-BLOWER, DAVID CAPELLO

17/10/2019

4 Comments

 
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William Roache, MBE, aka Ken Barlow of ITV’s hit Soap, Coronation Street: ‘The message is clear and powerful. Humanity has reached a stage where it is intolerant of abuse and ill treatment of animals, especially in the world of entertainment.’
 
Dr Simon JR Adams, BSc(Hons), BVMS, MRCVS, Independent Zoo and Wildlife Veterinary Adviser: ‘Could lead to a whole new understanding of cetacean behaviour.’
 
Ben Reeves, Journalist and Book Reviewer: ‘A shocking exposé of callous brutality against highly intelligent living creatures.’
 
Dave D, Ex-TV/Radio Presenter and Director of Pattaya One Media Group: ‘A national UK media block, corporate book blocking, covert messaging. All seemingly aided and abetted by many of the big-name anti-captivity charities. Intrigue and skulduggery more reminiscent of an international spy thriller than a book series about dolphins.’

 
David Capello, former head dolphin trainer and whistle-blower, Entam Leisure:

 
Lies, deceit, corruption – to say nothing of cruelty. All facets of the lucrative captive cetacean industry. And I should know, because I was once a big part of it.

So, who am I?

I have several pseudonyms, my most popular being ‘Capello’, the most colourful being ‘The Psychic Trainer’. But there is another handle – one I’d rather remain unwritten, as my whistle-blowing return was never intended as self-promotion. Either way, I am the trainer featured in The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy exposé, three books written under the fiction banner to avoid legal problems. A story now described by one discerning reviewer as ‘… fact stranger and more brutal than fiction!’ Yet, incredibly, all events chronicled are true, facts authenticated by original dolphin logbooks, long since thought destroyed. (A common Company practice on the death of a show dolphin.)

As you can imagine, my emergence with these logs has severely rattled the conglomerate and animal celebs involved in the story, resulting in a national UK media blackout. A cover-up that appears to have infiltrated the USA, after this award-winning exposé was controversially pulled from an over-subscribed summer reading programme by an unnamed US official. Desperate actions that beg the question, ‘Why are so many organisations, people and – now it would appear – governments so afraid of my story? Why are they so anxious to shut me up?’ Questions that can only be answered by reading the exposé itself.

As for me, my involvement with the aqua circus began at the tender age of 17, when I landed what I believed to be my dream job – a naivety that saw me whisked away from family and friends, and deposited in the harsh confines of the UK dolphin training pens; a facility breaking raw dolphins for the commercial dolphinaria.

Always held in high esteem, trainers graduating from this establishment were known for being ‘hard-nosed’. Not surprising considering the daily horrors they inevitably witnessed - botched transports that left countless dolphins injured and even maimed. I personally witnessed air burns, a blinding and much, much worse, devastating for the dolphins that survived, because - as my pen colleagues always reminded me - many Atlanteans didn’t.

Working the pens was physically and mentally gruelling. Early training was always conducted lying belly down on wet platforms, so we could interact with our dolphin captives eye to eye. Fifteen-hour days were commonplace. Depriving the dolphins of sleep was an important method used to secure the quickfire results that management demanded.

It was here that I witnessed my first suicide dolphin – a phenomenon that the captive industry vehemently denies. It was also here where I learned to hand-catch in preparation for transports, veterinary treatments or force-feeds - the latter, horribly distressing.

The force-feeds consisted of wrapping disinfected towel gags around the upper and lower jaws of the manually pinned-down dolphins, followed by physically pushing lubricated herring down into their throats to activate their swallowing mechanism. This nightmare was normally performed five fish at a time, punctuated by brief rest periods. Even so, this was not always successful, as the dolphins often vomited back their forced feed.

Much worse than the vomiting, however, was the unseen damage inflicted on the dolphins’ psyches, because once they’d undergone this torturous procedure, they were left vulnerable to what many pen trainers refer to as the ‘dolphin mind-set’, a mental condition that, once activated, proves difficult to reverse … suicide by self-starvation.

In fact, my only fond memory of the pens was Duchess and Herb’e (Flippa), my beloved Perfect Pair, for it was their brilliance that allowed the three of us to escape that hellhole and head to our first purpose-built dolphinarium.

The rest, as they say, is history. Over the next three years, my two magnificent show dolphins took the aqua circus by storm, achieving the much-revered shadow ballet. Their story has been lovingly chronicled by the Holroyds in The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy book series - a warts-and-all exposé that I pray will help bring down this horrendous industry.

As for me, once I’d made my decision to walk away from the aqua circus, I was never tempted to return, despite a lucrative offer to train Europe’s then only captive orca. My reason? I viewed my achievements not with pride, but with shame. Nevertheless, despite the attempted cover-up, my experiences are now a documented part of UK dolphinarium history - a tool to shine a light into the sinister and murky world of captive cetaceans.

So, I humbly ask all prominent activist celebs, music-makers and global agents: if you care deeply about cetacean welfare, don’t let them stop this award-winning expose, because one day in the not-to-distant future, we may all awaken to empty oceans.

Thanks for listening and thank you, Frederic Egersdorfer, for giving me this platform. For more info, visit www.theperfectpairdolphintrilogy.com.
 
David Capello, former Head Dolphin Trainer, Entam Leisure
Only together are we strong
4 Comments
Shelley Guinn
21/10/2019 00:56:44

Thank you David for coming forward and risking all you have to get this story out. I know it has been a battle. If there was nothing to hide then there would be no one trying to keep this from being told. That alone speaks volumes.

Reply
David Capello link
21/10/2019 13:00:26

Thank you, Shelley, for your message of support. You've been there right from the start and your faith in us has never wavered.

You are quite right - this story is considered to be such a threat to the captive industry and all those who make money from dolphin suffering that the unlikeliest of allies have worked together to stop it.

Over four decades have passed, yet this story is still not yet complete

Thanks again.

Reply
Kathy Harrison
31/1/2021 18:07:47

I agree with everything Shelly has written. I have always been a cetacean activist, but I will say that after reading all 3 books I was actually surprised by some of the things that goes on behind the scenes of the horrible places! If you haven't read The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy books, whether an activist or not, you definitely should read them. If you are not an activist to shut these horror shows down, these books will certainly make you into an activist!

Reply
David and Tracy link
31/1/2021 19:02:15

Before we were writers, we were activists, supporting with monetary donations the charities that said they were working to make the world a better place for our animals. How wrong we were! The Perfect Pair Dolphin Trilogy is an award-winning story that took six years to write. We found it so upsetting that it nearly destroyed us. Only for people like you and Shelley, Kathy, we would have walked away - because that's what the charity directors wanted us to do. They didn't want any experts intruding on what they view to be THEIR territory. Our expose was meant to give them ammunition, but the charities threw it back in our face. Sad, but true.

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  • Home
  • About
  • William Roache, OBE, AKA Ken Barlow of Coronation Street
  • Dr Simon JR Adams, BSc (Hons), BVMS, MRCVS
  • Book Tasters
  • Captive Dolphin Photo Gallery
  • David and Tracy Talkin' Belinda Fellgate!
  • Belinda Fellgate Book Series
  • Belinda Fellgate: The Kiss of Flauros
  • Belinda Fellgate: Malamok
  • Gallery of Reviews & Posters
  • Gallery of Artwork
  • Protest GIFS by Trent
  • Protest Posters by Grey Wolf
  • Videos
  • The Japanese Dolphin Slaughter: The Taiji Killing Cove
  • Links to Friends and Supporters
  • Blog Page
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
  • Audio Stories