No revolutionary is without detractors. Old-guard trainers argue that Sifferdi is too soft. They claim that his reliance on "consent" fails when an animal is aggressive. Furthermore, some traditional circuses (which Sifferdi refuses to work with) have attempted to discredit him, arguing that no 20-year-old has the physical mass to control a distressed panther.
This philosophy has led to bizarre, almost magical successes. In 2015, a notoriously aggressive killer whale at a Mediterranean marine park refused to work for three months. The park hired Sifferdi as a last resort before euthanasia. While other trainers stood on the podium with fish buckets, Sifferdi sat on the wet edge of the tank—silent—for eleven days. On the twelfth day, the whale presented its dorsal fin to him. He hadn't taught it a trick; he had simply waited for the whale to teach him the proper time of day for communication. animal trainer 20 rocco sifferdi new