a controversial spanish aquarium trainer who was accused of abusing dolphins has been found dead following a suspected suicide jose luis barbero, 59, who was due to arrive in the us to work at the georgia aquarium at the beginning of march believed to have taken his own life in spain after he started receiving death threats when video emerged of him apparently kicking and hitting the animals  the 59 year old was working on the resort island of mallorca in the mediterranean sea  when he vanished on friday after the damning footage surfaced scroll down for video  dolphin trainer jose luis barbero, who was just hired by the georgia aquarium in atlanta, has been found dead in spain following a suspected suicide  before he vanished, videos of barbero, 59, (rear) allegedly hitting and kicking dolphins surfaced on the internet  after the videos (pictured above) started popping up on the web, barbero began receiving death threats  a statement from management at the atlanta attraction sent to fox 5 following his death paid tribute to the expert trainer and accused people of rushing to judge him 'it was with sadness, outrage and frustration that i received the news this morning that jose luis barbero was found dead in spain 'initial reports suggest that he allegedly ended his own life he was a husband, a father and a grandfather who dedicated nearly four decades to caring for animals we at georgia aquarium were proud to have had him serve periodically as a consultant to our organization over the past eight years his service with us was exemplary 'after allegations were levied against him, we took the situation very seriously georgia aquarium began a search for truth in hopes of disproving these unsubstantiated claims 'sadly, he and his family received death threats, and groups and individuals rushed to judge him he was not given the right or the privilege to be considered innocent until proven guilty, a principle i hold dear his death is untimely, unnecessary and unjust 'we were not given the chance to thoughtfully and thoroughly review the allegations against him before activists, consultants and some in our own community tortured him with enough hatred to cause him to allegedly take his own life 'i hope the death of jose luis barbero teaches those who were quick to condemn him a lesson about being hasty to charge and indict 'we will continue to operate georgia aquarium with dedication, devotion and pride in how we care for and about our animalsas well as the people affiliated with our organization we will continue to serve the community and be advocates for animals around the world, as we have done since our founding we will never condone any injustice, such as the one done to jose luis barbero 'we mourn with his family, his friends and all those who must contend with this terrible loss' a former fbi agent was also hired by the georgia aquarium to travel to spain as part of the investigation  officials from the atlanta attraction have issued a statement defending barbero and accused his critics of being too quick to judge him  barbero went missing before another video  accusing him of abusing dolphins was released on friday, according to11 alive he was last seen on tuesday leaving his home, wsb tv reported balearic islands emergency services are continuing to search for him georgia aquarium ceo mike leven said, 'we are very concerned 'we hope he turns up soon and that everything is all right our thoughts are with him and his family' according to leven, barbero received death threats after the videos surfaced the embattled trainer did respond to the videos on facebook in a translated post he said: 'i believe a response is needed to this brutal and cowardly campaign against my profession 'i can only say from my lawyers' recommendations that this video is a montage created to provoke a campaign challenging my professionalism over 35 years' barbero of spain went missing before another video accusing him of abusing dolphins was released yesterday  the most recent video allegedly shows barbero being aggressive towards dolphins during a training session at a theme park in spain animal advocacy group sosdelfines said the videos are 'meant to show how captive dolphins are treated', according to the dodo the aquarium has questioned whether the videos of barbero are authentic and used the terms 'extremely questionable' and 'crudely edited' to describe them aquarium leaders claimed to have 'thoroughly reviewed and vetted' barbero as a candidate and also cited that he has 35 years of professional experience experts were brought in to analyze the content of the videos a former fbi agent was also hired by the aquarium to travel to spain as part of the investigation it is unclear what barbero's job status is at the  moment, but he it appears he is still a consultant and not a full time employee of the aquarium the georgia aquarium maintains that it has a zero tolerance policy against the mistreatment of animals  animal advocacy group sosdelfines said the videos are 'meant to show how captive dolphins are treated' the aquarium released a statement about the barbero investigation on friday afternoon it said: 'our search for truth into the allegations against jose luis barbero continues 'until our investigation is complete, we will not make any decisions regarding his employment, so at this time, mr barbero remains in spain 'we are committed to making decisions based on factual information and very thorough analysis 'we have a zero tolerance policy against the mistreatment of animals and continue to investigate every aspect of this matter 'we appreciate your patience and support as we sort through this difficult situation' it seems that barbero is still a consultant and not a full time employee of the aquarium at this time 
spain barbero this month georgia aquarium jose luis barbero tuesday 59 year old mallorca
jose luis barbero went missing from island of mallorca near spain  a statement from the aquarium said he has since been found dead  he was due to start work as vice president at georgia aquarium this month  the 59 year old was allegedly seen badly mistreating dolphins in videos  after the videos surfaced, he reportedly began receiving death threats  barbero was last seen leaving his home on tuesday  aquarium has a zero tolerance policy towards mistreatment of animals 