ANIMAL activists filed a lawsuit against SeaWorld today that seeks to grant some constitutional rights to five killer whales that they say are being enslaved as marine park performers.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in San Diego by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), claims that the orcas are being held at SeaWorld parks in violation of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the US and prohibits involuntary servitude.
The group argues in the lawsuit that the five orcas are, by definition, slaves, as they were forcibly taken from their families to be put in captivity, where they are denied their natural environment, subject to sperm collection and forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld's profit.
PETA has billed their case as the first ever suit to apply the amendment to nonhuman animals and Jeffrey Kerr, general counsel to PETA, said in a statement, "Slavery is slavery, and it does not depend on the species of the slave any more than it depends on gender, race, or religion."
SeaWorld, meanwhile, described the lawsuit as "baseless and in many ways offensive," slamming PETA for comparing the care of animals in captivity to "the abhorrent institution of human slavery."
"SeaWorld is among the world's most respected zoological institutions," the company said in a statement. "There is no higher priority than the welfare of the animals entrusted to our care and no facility sets higher standards in husbandry, veterinary care and enrichment than SeaWorld."
The "plaintiffs" listed in the suit include orcas Corky, Kasatka and Ulises of SeaWorld San Diego and Tilikum and Katina based at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida.
Tilikum, a six-ton male orca, made headlines after drowning trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010. Tilikum was also blamed for the death of another trainer in 1991 and a homeless man in 1999. SeaWorld came under fire for putting him back in its shows about a year after Brancheau was killed.
In addition to PETA, the orcas are "represented" in the suit by several "next friends," including killer whale expert Dr Ingrid N Visser and dolphin trainer-turned-animal activist Ric O'Barry.
Mr O'Barry said in an interview that in the best outcome of the lawsuit, rights would be implemented for the orcas, which could then be rehabilitated and considered for release into the wild.
Some of the killer whales may not ever be able to swim freely again, such as Tilikum, who "obviously has mental issues," Mr O'Barry said. But he argued that the orca could at least live out his days in a natural sea pen, feeling the tides of the ocean.
Decades ago, Mr O'Barry famously trained the dolphins featured in the Flipper television series and even trained "Hugo," the first killer whale in captivity in the eastern United States. But now he has been fighting to keep dolphins out of captivity, and his activism was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.
Mr O'Barry not only faulted SeaWorld for keeping the orcas in captivity, but also said the company was setting a bad example for the thousands of kids that watch its "Shamu" shows every year. Using an analogy, he told NewsCore, "To teach a child not to step on a butterfly is as important to the child as it is to the butterfly."
While PETA might be able to get the court of public opinion on its side, animal law experts, like David Favre of Michigan State University College of Law, said he finds it hard to believe that such a case will survive in the judicial system.
"First the court has to agree that PETA has the ability and right to represent the whales, then they would have to argue that the constitutional amendment [applies] to whales," he told NewsCore in an email.
"While many in the US may believe such use is like slavery, it simply is a historical fact that the amendment was adopted to deal with human beings, and I don't see how they get past that point," he said.
Can this group get more idiotic. I wonder how the court is going to get killer whales to testify on the stand? I can't believe our Judicial system puts up with lawsuits over such ignorant things.
