"All five of these orcas were violently seized from the ocean and taken from their families as babies," said Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta). "They are denied freedom and everything else that is natural and important to them while kept in small concrete tanks and reduced to performing stupid tricks." SeaWorld San Diego said Peta's efforts to extend the 13th amendment's "solemn protections" beyond human beings was "baseless and in many ways offensive".
The park, the first of three established by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, added that displaying the marine mammals in captivity educated the public about the creatures. David Steinberg, a professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, characterised as "patently, absolutely frivolous" Peta's claims that whales are entitled to protection from involuntary servitude under the 13th amendment, which was ratified in 1865.
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"The 13th amendment abolished the abhorrent, despicable practice of the slavery of human beings," he said. "Peta is demeaning the integrity and humanity of people who were owned as slaves. That is outrageous." The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring SeaWorld to release the five killer whales to a "suitable habitat". Four of the orcas were caught in the wild off the coast of Iceland and a fifth was captured off the north-west Pacific, the suit says.
5 comments:
yeah good on peta for this... I do not go to circuses or seaworld because of the way they treat animals... vote with your feet
Actually, above Anonymous, controlling diabetes through diet alone is near impossible, and those with type 1 diabetes can't do without insulin full stop.
Besides, whilst extending the 13th amendment to animals might be a bit extreme and a little inappropriate, there's no doubt that whales are intelligent and emotional animals that need to be treated with a hell of a lot more care and respect than they currently are.
Though I'd agree it's cruel, I can't imagine this will hold up in court and if it does, what next? My dog sued me because I was feeding it pedigree chum and not steak?
I think PETA are onto something here and am fully supportive. In the future I'd like to bet that our children will look back in incredulity at the way we think about intelligent species in the same way we look back now at how our ancestors thought about slavery.
Oh, and the ‘it’s only an animal’, ‘it’s better off in captivity’, ‘don’t be a hypocrite, you use animal products too’ arguments just don’t hold water and were also the exact same arguments made by the apologist for slavery.
Do I think they can win? No, but I suspect that’s not the point. It’s about getting people to think about the issue from a different perspective.
PETA could do a lot of good if they went about it the right way. As it is, they usually choose a stupid way to get the word out and make themselves a laughingstock.
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