Dolphinaris Arizona laying off employees
Employees are being laid off at Dolphinaris Arizona while the venue temporarily closes today after the recent death of a fourth dolphin.
Dolphinaris Arizona had more than 40 employees when it opened in 2016, with trainers and veterinarians comprising about a quarter of the staff.
Some employees will be laid off and some will remain, Dolphinaris spokeswoman Jen Smith confirmed on Thursday.
Smith said she did not know the number of employees that will remain at the facility, located at Loop 101 and Via de Ventura on the Salt River Reservation east of Scottsdale.
Dolphinaris announced its temporarily closure on Tuesday while a panel evaluates the facility following the death of Kai, a 22-year-old dolphin, on Jan. 31.
Kai was the fourth dolphin to die at the facility since it opened in October 2016. The other dolphins include:
❚ Khloe, an 11-year-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, who died on Dec. 30, 2018, after a chronic illness.
❚ Alia, a 10-year-old bottlenose dolphin, who died on May 22, 2018, of an acute bacterial infection that officials said “spread quickly throughout her body.”
❚ Bodie, a 7-year-old bottlenose dolphin,
A 14-year-old boy arrested in connection with the murder of his aunt last week is being charged as an adult with first-degree murder, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office confirmed Wednesday.
The teen was identified as Ares Adle by the Maricopa County Sheriff ’s Office. He has been booked into a county jail, the office said. who died of a fungal infection on Sept. 23, 2017.
Two of the four remaining dolphins who were loaned to the facility will be transferred back to Dolphin Quest, the Hawaii facility that loaned them, according to Dolphinaris. The other two dolphins will be transferred to another licensed facility.
The statement said Dolphinaris is “committed to ensuring the well-being of the remaining dolphins.”
Last Friday, sheriff ’s deputies found Tonya Harper, 42, fatally stabbed in the neck, officials said.
The stabbing took place in an unincorporated area near Chandler and Sun Lakes.
Harper’s nephew was arrested Saturday in connection with her murder.
According to the County Attorney’s Office, a direct complaint was filed Monday charging the teen.
The details of that complaint were not immediately available late Wednesday afternoon.