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David Walliams angers fans with photo of himself kissing a dolphin in captivity

David Walliams is currently enjoying a luxurious holiday with his mother in sunny Dubai, however, the Britain’s Got Talent judge’s latest Instagram snap has sparked outrage among fans.

The comic posted an image of himself kissing a dolphin in a swimming pool, simply captioning the snap with: “Kiss”.

This photo has sparked outrage. Copyright: [Instagram]
This photo has sparked outrage. Copyright: [Instagram]

However, his followers were left less than impressed, slamming David for supporting animals in captivity.

Many took to the comment section to reference studies which had found that dolphins find swimming with humans traumatic, expressing their disappointment at David’s “cruel” act.

One fan commented: “Do you think they enjoy being kissed by humans and forced to perform in chlorinated prisons?? Congratulations for supporting and funding this psychological torture and the murder of hundreds of dolphins when they’re captured brutally by Japanese fishermen. T***.”

Others added: “No animal should be used for our entertainment. Dolphins do not belong in captivity. Please watch The Cove and Blackfish. Please do some research into captive marine life and please make a choice to make a stand against this.”

David is on holiday with his mum. Copyright: [Instagram]
David is on holiday with his mum. Copyright: [Instagram]

“I am so disappointed to see this, I thought better of you and thought you were an animal lover.”

“David, I am sorry that you showed great ignorance in taking part of this photo. Dolphins should not be held in captivity.”

“Very disappointed that you visited this place and promoted it by posting pics. Captivity kills.”

Authors for the Royal Society Open Science recently warned that holding animals in captivity could risk the species’ population, writing: “We found that conditioned animals were more likely to be injured by human interactions when compared with unconditioned animals.

David has not responded to the backlash. Copyright: [PA]
David has not responded to the backlash. Copyright: [PA]

“This is alarming as conditioning could lead to a decrease in survival, which could have population-level consequences.”

Yahoo Celeb UK have contacted David’s reps for comment.

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