Canada's Marineland Under Scrutiny for Poor Animal Care

Allegations are that sea animals are not being well-cared for at this Niagara Falls resort.

PETA's Orca Lawsuit Dismissed by Federal Judge

Well, it's still historic and precedent-setting. Here's hoping we see more of these legal challenges. Full story posted on Global Animal and from the Huffington Post.

Do whales deserve constitutional protection against slavery? On February 8, a federal judge said ‘no,’ stopping a historic case filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against SeaWorld for violating the 13th Amendment on slavery. Five orcas were listed as the plaintiffs.

PETA filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in San Diego last October, complaining that the whales “were forcibly taken from their families and natural habitats, are held captive at SeaWorld San Diego and SeaWorld Orlando, denied everything that is natural to them, subjected to artificial insemination or sperm collection to breed performers for Defendants’ shows, and forced to perform, all for Defendants’ profit. As such, Plaintiffs are held in slavery and involuntary servitude.” PETA went on to request that the whales be freed and released to a habitat better suited to their needs.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller dismissed the case, writing in his ruling that “the only reasonable interpretation of the Thirteenth Amendment’s plain language is that it applies to persons, and not to non-persons such as orcas.”

Before the ruling, PETA’s attorney Jeffrey Kerr told HuffPost that the animal rights group’s argument was based on the belief that “slavery doesn’t depend upon the species of the slave, any more than it depends upon the race, gender or ethnicity of the slave. SeaWorld’s attempts to deny [orcas] the protection solely based on their species is the same kind of prejudice used to justify any enslavement. And prejudice should not be what determines constitutional rights in this country … Because they can suffer from the prohibitive conduct of being enslaved, the 13th Amendment protection against that conduct should be extended to them.”

US Judge Asked to Hear Case about Orcas

We'll see how it goes. Even when we lose these battles, the fact that they are heard at all is an important step. Barriers are broken and precedents are set for the future. I'm tired of being a pessimist all the time.

Excerpted from the Sydney Morning Herald....

A federal judge for the first time in US history has heard arguments in a case that could determine whether animals enjoy the same constitutional protection against slavery as human beings.

US District Judge Jeffrey Miller called the hearing in San Diego after Sea World asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that names five orcas as plaintiffs in the case.

PETA claims the captured killer whales are treated like slaves, forced to live in tanks and perform daily at its parks in San Diego, California and Orlando, Florida.

Advertisement: Story continues below "This case is on the next frontier of civil rights," said PETA lawyer Jeffrey Kerr, representing the five orcas.

Sea World's lawyer, Theodore Shaw, called the lawsuit a waste of the court's time and resources. He said it defies common sense and goes against 125 years of case law applied to the American constitution's 13th amendment, which prohibits slavery between humans.

"With all due respect, the court does not have the authority to even consider this question," Shaw said, adding later: "Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the 'We the people' ... when the constitution was adopted

Efforts to Rescue Lolita the Orca from Miami

Read the rest of the article in the Courthouse News Service....

Animal-rights activists claim an orca is being held in an "inadequate tank" in the Miami Seaquarium. They sued the National Marine Fisheries Service for excluding captive killer whales from listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, People for the Ethical Treatment of Individuals and three individuals challenge the NMFS decision "to exclude from the listing of the Southern Resident killer whale population all captive members of that population and their progeny."

The federal complaint focuses on a whale named Lolita, who was captured more than 40 years ago, and has been held at the Miami Seaquarium. The activists claim Lolita is being "kept in an inadequate tank, without companions of her own species or adequate protection from the sun."

Dutch Whale Denied Freedom; Must Go to Spanish Amusement Park

Unfortunate, but the court decided she would not survive being returned to the wild.

Here's an excerpt from the online Boston Globe...

Morgan, a 4-year-old killer whale, has lost her bid for freedom

Agriculture Secretary Henk Bleker ruled Wednesday that the orca, rescued last year ailing and emaciated from the Wadden Sea off the northern Dutch coast, should be transferred to an amusement park on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

A Dutch court had suspended the government's export permit after an animal rights coalition presented a plan to release her to the wild in stages. A judge ordered the coalition, the Agriculture Ministry and the Harderwijk Dolphinarium, which put her ondisplay after nursing her back to health, to review the scientific evidence and work out a solution.

Bleker said after hearing arguments from both sides that Morgan's chances of survival were too slim if she were freed.

"This feels like a defeat because an animal like this really belongs in the sea and not a zoo," Bleker said in a statement. "Morgan belongs in the wild, but not at all costs."

Interview with PETA re: Captive Orcas

This is an interview with Lisa Wathne from PETA regarding captive animals in aquariums. It's from MacLean's.

In Defense of Animals Decries Another Captive Orca Death

Taima, a 20-year-old orca at Sea World died Sunday while giving birth to her stillborn calf. In Defense of Animals is calling for the the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to create regulations to prohibit captive breeding and phase out the public display of orcas.

I wish them luck.

PETA Protests Pregnant Orcas at SeaWorld

PETA protesters were in front of SeaWorld-Orlando where two orcas are now pregnant. The father in both cases is the same orca that killed its trainer a few months ago.

PETA Testimony to US Congress On Marine Animal Captivity

Here is a link to PETA's testimony submitted to the US Congress regarding marine animals in captivity. There was a hearing held this past Tuesday.

Congressional Hearing on Marine Animal Captivity

The hearing was held today (Tuesday.)

Congressional Hearing on Sea World Incident

So, remember the incident in which an orca whale attacked and killed its trainer at Sea World? Now there's going to be a Congressional hearing this week about it. I sincerely hope this leads to a change in law regarding animals in captivity. At a minimum, they should stop the captivity of orca whales.

We'll see. It may just be more Congressional hot air.

Orcas Have Some Pretty Big Brains

They have the second largest brains of all marine mammals. That's pretty impressive and demands a deeply introspective review of how we treat them.

Animals Should Kept in the Wild

Nice argument for animals to be kept in the wild, not in captivity. It's from a Malaysian news site.

PETA Attacks Jack Hanna

Sea World has hired him to defend the use of captive whales. PETA calls him an animal pimp "entertainer." You can read some pretty strong words from PETA here.

Orca Whale Article Appears in Salon

Informative article with one expert saying captivity can drive orcas insane.

I'm not surprised. They are used to miles and miles of ocean. The argument that they have "plenty of room" has been made about elephants too. In fact, the animal research supporter in my book club said that very same thing.

(By the way, she works for a company that does clinical testing for drug companies. Animals are commodities for her. So why should I be surprised at her elephant comment?)

Free those Orcas!

There is NO REASON to keep orcas in captivity. It's simply for human entertainment. That generally means money for someone. That is NOT a sufficient reason to do so.

Animals were not put on this planet for your kids or your wallets.

According to this article, there is a lot of organized outcry following the trainer death at Sea World.

98 Year Old Orca Matriarch Dies

Well, that's just an estimate. I had no idea they could live that long.

Great-great-great-grandma Lummi – the oldest member of the local orca population – has been missing since December and is presumed dead.

Lummi, the matriarch of the family of orcas known as K pod, is thought to have been born around 1910, give or take 15 years. Her birth year is an estimate based on when she stopped having babies.

Even if the number is off by a decade, 98-year-old Lummi was a pretty old orca. On average, female orcas found around Puget Sound and the waters of the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island live to be about 50.