After twenty years, the founder of Pieterburen admitted that he ‘kidnapped’ the Hannes seal

Robert Novoski

Hannes’ story became big news for animal protection twenty years ago: after escaping from the German zoo Nordhorn, where Hannes traveled 80 kilometers in four days, employees of the Groningen Pieterburen Seal Center found out catch a baby seal. Nordhorn demand he returns, but Pieterburen refuses: Hannes must become stronger and then go free into the world.

And then, after the Dutch government gave support to Nordhorn and a strict ban on deporting Hannes, Hannes was coincidentally ‘stolen’ from Pieterburen. Although he always denied any involvement, his denial made Pieterburen’s founder, Lenie ‘t Hart, an iconic animal lover. Statues have been erected to Hannes in Groningen and Nordhorn.

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Frank Rensen is news editor de Volkskrantwith technology as a specialty.

Also against de Volkskrant ‘t Hart lied bluntly in 2004: ‘At least he’s free now’, he said straight to kidnapping, with feigned pity. So who exactly is responsible for this is still unknown. This secrecy is because stealing endangered species – such as seals – is a punishable offense. But now that the case is over, ‘t Hart, who is now 83 years old, speaks for himself YouTube-podcast proud that he was the one who orchestrated the whole kidnapping.

‘I like it [van de autoriteiten] don’t let yourself go. Let’s be honest now: I got a contact at the Animal Liberation Front (an activist organization, red.) and one night they kidnapped the seal and released it into the Wadden Sea.’ ‘t Hart provided an alibi for himself and set a date when no one would be present at the seal center.

To complete the cinematic kidnapping, Animal Liberation Front activists left a plush seal in a laundry basket at the shelter, which police discovered the next day. ‘There was a police officer who went out with a brush to see if there were any fingerprints to be found. “You can imagine we laughed out loud,” Hart said RTV North.

“You know what’s so beautiful,” said ‘t Hart in his YouTube confessional, “Hannes was released twenty years ago, so he’s still alive. We did it secretly, but Hannes is still free.’

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