Tenerife zoo, Loro Parque, is to appeal against a court ruling that has dismissed its defamation lawsuit against an animal rights group.
The park, voted Europe’s best zoo by TripAdvisor readers, has accused PETA of ‘organising campaigns of defamation to commit an outrage’ against organisations like itself.
It sought €100,000 in damages from PETA after the animal rights group publicised photographs in 2015 showing orcas at the marine park covered with scars and wounds.
The animal rights group said the pictures indicated inter-animal aggression and possibly unsafe enclosures.
But a judge at the High Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife dismissed the claim, arguing that PETA’s actions were protected under the constitutional right to freedom of expression.
The court also ordered the company to pay PETA’s legal fees.
A statement from Loro Parque said despite throwing out the defamation claim, the judge in the case had stressed that the installations of orcas at the park ‘fulfill the regulations in force’ and that the park ‘complies~strictly to the applicable legal requirements and counts with the obligatory authorisations and licenses’.
Defending itself today, the park said it has been fighting for conservation of nature and the wellbeing of animals for 45 years, but has been made the subject of an international press campaign by PETA, despite previous investigations by the Spanish Environmental Police confirming there were no indications of mistreatment of its orcas.
It is asking the High Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to address that the legitimate use of freedom of speech cannot be an excuse for campaigns of defamation.
PETA director Elisa Allen said the group is calling on the marine park to stop trying to conceal the animals’ suffering and start moving them to coastal sanctuaries.
