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PDFSeaWorld Says It Will End Breeding of Killer Whales
“The company has 29 orcas: 11 in San Diego; seven in Orlando, Fla.; five in San Antonio; and six in Loro Parque, on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. It does not plan to release the killer whales into the ocean, arguing that they would not be able to survive in the wild.
SeaWorld has been under fire after a 2012 book by David Kirby, “Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity,” and a 2013 documentary, “Blackfish,” assailed the treatment of killer whales at SeaWorld Orlando. (Tilikum, the whale featured in the film, is in poor health there.)
In October, the California Coastal Commission banned the breeding of orcas in captivity, a decision that SeaWorld challenged as an overreach of the agency’s authority. The commission attached the ban to its approval of a proposed expansion of SeaWorld’s whale habitat in San Diego. “
After SeaWorld, here are six animal scandals we need to fix
“The extreme confinement of farm animals
It’s still standard practice in the egg and pork industries for animals to spend their whole lives in cages so small they can barely move. Nine out of 10 egg-laying hens in the United States are confined in cages so cramped they can’t even spread their wings…
Puppy mills
Each year, millions of puppies are born in large-scale, commercial dog breeding operations known as puppy mills. The breeding females are kept in small cages and are bred over and over until they are too old or sick. Many are then killed, as they are no longer of any value to the puppy mill owner…
Animal fighting
We’ve dramatically strengthened the nation’s legal framework against dogfighting and cockfighting, but additional fortifications are needed. These are reprehensible, calculated crimes that result in protracted and sustained violence to animals. We’ve worked to upgrade the federal law against animal fighting four times since 2002. It’s now a felony to fight animals, possess fighting animals, sell fighting implements, or bring a child to an animal fight. It’s also a misdemeanor to be a spectator at an animal fight…
Animal testing
Animals such as rabbits, mice and guinea pigs are suffering unnecessarily in the testing of cosmetic products and ingredients. These tests include putting chemicals on animals’ skin or into their eyes to assess the level of irritation caused. The animals experience immense pain and are often killed at the end of the test period…
Horse slaughter
Throughout history, horses have worked alongside us as companions and partners in work and sport. Horse slaughter could be referred to as America’s dirty secret; at auctions around the county, horses are sold to kill buyers who transport them to slaughter in Canada and Mexico. The entire process, from auction to slaughter, is horrifically cruel….
Wildlife trafficking
The worldwide exploitation of wildlife threatens some of the world’s most iconic species with extinction. After a Minnesota dentist killed a majestic lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe, we worked with the world’s major airlines and helped to convince more than 40 of them – including all the big US passenger carriers – to stop transporting trophies of the Africa Big Five….”
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