Money Rules as Greedy Company Continues to Imprison Orcas in Tiny Tanks While Governor, Sheriff, and Humane Society Fail to Act
For Immediate Release:
February 23, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 757-622-7382
Orlando, Fla.-- Dressed in black, PETA members will converge on SeaWorld in Orlando on Thursday—the one-year anniversary of the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau, the third human to be killed by an orca named Tilikum. Despite the premature deaths of three human beings and more than 20 orcas at SeaWorld's parks, the company continues to put profits over humane concerns. Orcas at SeaWorld are confined to tanks that, to them, are like bathtubs, leading to miserable lives of desperation and frustration for the orcas and danger for SeaWorld staffers. Brancheau would be alive today if SeaWorld had heeded PETA's advice to transfer the marine mammals it holds captive to transitional coastal sanctuaries.
Where: Main entrance to SeaWorld (intersection of Central Florida Parkway and SeaWorld Drive), Orlando
When: Thursday, February 24, 12 noon
"SeaWorld is the poster child for how uncurbed business interests can steal lives—in this case, the lives of orcas, dolphins, and human beings," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "When SeaWorld removed this baby orca from his mother and family and locked him in a cement box, the company created a ticking time bomb—and now Tilikum has only his anger and frustration to keep him company."
Despite the inhumane conditions for orcas at SeaWorld and the many allegations that negligence on the part of the park led to Brancheau's death, the governor's office, the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and the SPCA of Central Florida have taken no action as a result of the incident.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.