Lenie 't Hart (born Leentje Godlieb) (born September 16, 1941 in Farmsum) is a Dutch animal caretaker and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

activist. In 1971, she founded the

Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre The Seal Rehabilitation and Research Centre (SRRC; nl, Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen) is located in Pieterburen, Netherlands. Lenie ‘t Hart founded the centre in 1971 and the centre has evolved from a simple "day care" for young seals to a sci ...

Pieterburen Pieterburen is a village in the northeastern Netherlands, located in the municipality of Het Hogeland, Groningen. History Around 1300, a dike was built north of the present village. During the 14th century, a settlement appeared on a mudflat ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. Later she was forced to leave the center as she strongly resisted against new, scientifically-based policies about seal care and the current employees of the center as well as the government did not longer want to cooperate with her.

Seal rescue

't Hart started in 1971 with one lost seal in a tub in her own back-garden. In the beginning the care was only for seal puppies who had lost their mother, the "howlers", as a young seal pup can not survive without his mother. In 2014 the people working at the Seal Rehabilitation Centre forced 't Hart to stop her activities at the centre, as she wouldn't accept the new scientifically based policy on treating injured seals and intervened too much with the people working there. In the years after she had left, 't Hart and a few of her former colleagues have been subject in several criminal investigations by the Dutch authorities because they illegally captured seals and kept them at home under bad circumstances.Hoger beroep in zaak illegale zeehondopvang
Omrop Fryslân 26 October 2015

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* 1941 births Living people Keepers of animal sanctuaries Dutch activists Dutch women activists People from Delfzijl {{Netherlands-bio-stub