Corporation Must Be Held Accountable for Animal Suffering, Human Deaths, Says Group
For Immediate Release:
September 16, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Orlando, Fla. -- Holding signs that read, "Throw the Book at SeaWorld!" and "Stop Imprisoning Orcas," PETA members will protest outside the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center courthouse on Monday as the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission hears the case of SeaWorld v. the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The amusement park is challenging the issuance of OSHA citations against it and against the $75,000 penalty that SeaWorld received after animal trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by the orca Tilikum, who had previously taken two human lives.
When: Monday, September 19, 12 noon
Where: Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, 101 Bush Blvd., Sanford
"Despite the premature deaths of three human beings and more than 20 orcas at SeaWorld's parks, the company goes on making money at the expense of animals and its employees," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "SeaWorld must be held accountable for ruining marine mammals' lives by keeping them in abysmal conditions that are dangerous to animals and humans."
While orcas in the wild share intricate family relationships and swim as far as 100 miles each day, orcas at SeaWorld are confined to small, concrete tanks—the equivalent of sentencing a swimmer to a bathtub for life—and are forced to perform circus-style tricks for food. Unsurprisingly, desperation and frustration leads these huge, intelligent animals to lash out violently. The animals' own lives are at risk too: Orcas at SeaWorld typically live far short of the 80-year maximum life span that orcas enjoy in the wild. In fact, of the 21 orcas who died in SeaWorld facilities between 1986 and 2008, not one died of old age.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.