Till Backhaus

He still had his life ahead of him.

— Till Backhaus, Environment Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, on the failed whale rescue attempt

It was always a matter of weighing which option was the worst: waiting for the animal's certain death in pain, or giving it one last chance and exposing it to potential stress.

— Till Backhaus (SPD), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's State Environment Minister, commenting on the private Timmy whale rescue attempt

The animal answers to its name and has no self; it is enclosed within itself and yet exposed.

— Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Frankfurt School philosophers; quoted in the article in the context of their views on the nature of animals

I know everything about the whale.

— Till Backhaus, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's environment minister, in an NDR interview

And now it's all gone off the rails.

— Walter Gunz, co-founder of MediaMarkt and one of the financiers of the rescue effort, told dpa (the German press agency)

The minister's appearance on Stern TV was a 'slap in the face to all the people who have left everything for the whale'.

— Karin Walter-Mommert, quoted in the ntv.de article about the whale rescue and her critique of Minister Backhaus

Thank God. Thank God. I have never in my life prayed so much.

— Walter Gunz, financier of the wal rescue project and founder of MediaMarkt, after the successful transport