Written by Michelle Kretzer
They might be 6 feet under, but they still won't be caught under a pile of pelts. PETA's "corpses" rose from the dead to haunt Orlando's LaBelle Furs (an oxymoron if I ever heard one).
Since the store is near a courthouse, lawyers and litigants came by all day—but no one defended the cruel fur industry. The verdict is in: Fur is out.
Written by PETA
Due in part to plummeting ticket sales, SeaWorld is reportedly laying off hundreds of staffers. That news prompted PETA and local activists to hold demonstrations over the weekend in front of SeaWorld parks in Orlando and San Diego in order to call on the corporation to retire the orcas who are languishing in the theme parks' cramped and barren tanks.
You'd think that after an orca killed a trainer earlier this year, SeaWorld would recognize the need to change course. The theme park can reinvent itself and retain jobs by retiring the orcas to protected coastal sanctuaries.
Please tell SeaWorld to "lay off" the orcas—and that you won't be buying a ticket until it does.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
Two female orcas at SeaWorld Orlando are pregnant—one is expected to give birth later this month or in early June—but we're not celebrating.
If the calves survive, what do they have to look forward to? Swimming endless circles in barren concrete tanks, doing circus-type tricks, and dying an early death. Twenty-one orcas died in U.S. SeaWorld facilities between 1986 and 2008—an average of nearly one each year for 22 years. Their deaths were caused by severe trauma, intestinal gangrene, acute hemorrhagic pneumonia, pulmonary abscesses, chronic kidney disease, chronic cardiovascular failure, septicemia, and influenza. In some cases, the cause of death could not even be determined, but it is clear that none of these animals died of old age.
The father in both of the pregnancies is Tilikum, the same orca who attacked trainer Dawn Brancheau—ripping off her left arm and part of her scalp, crushing her ribs, and breaking bones throughout her body before drowning her. Despite knowing about the extreme danger posed by Tilikum—including the fact that he had killed humans twice before—SeaWorld refuses to "Free Tilly" most likely because he's a valuable and prodigious breeder. Tilikum has already sired 13 calves for SeaWorld.
Enough is enough. Please take a moment to write to the Blackstone Group—the company that owns SeaWorld—and ask that it send Tilly and the other animal inmates in its facilities to sanctuaries.
Written by Paula Moore
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has just released a 43-page investigative report into the death of Dawn Brancheau and is declaring her death an accident.
Dawn's death was no accident, and the Orange County Sheriff's report is entirely unsupportable on its face. Consider that a SeaWorld trainer who was acting as a "spotter" for Brancheau told investigators that Tilikum "has been deemed to have tendencies that make him unsafe," and yet Brancheau was allowed to "[lie] on her stomach, face to face with Tilikum … in three to four inches of water" at the side of the pool on a concrete slab, from which she was pulled into the water by the huge 12,000-pound orca.
The trainer also admitted that "no one ever goes in the pool with Tilikum because of his past history," yet video footage of Brancheau that was posted on the Web site of the NBC affiliate in Orlando and shot by a visitor to the park just minutes before her death clearly shows Brancheau in the water with Tilikum.
SeaWorld executives have long known that these animals pose a risk of death and injury, but they go for the money, exactly as mine owners who won’t risk a drop in profits by stopping to fix massive problems that put humans in harm's way do.
Another spotter confirmed that on the day of Brancheau’s death, Tilikum was "possessive," and the assistant curator of animal training admitted to investigators that "Tilikum's past history is that when he obtains a person, he does not let them go."
Despite knowing about the extreme danger posed by Tilikum and the fact that he had killed twice before, SeaWorld goes beyond ignoring the problem, understating the risks and paying money to trainers to risk their lives.
Continue reading.
Say you want to take a protest against SeaWorld's mistreatment of captive orca Tilly beyond letters and boycotts. What's a performance artist to do?
Brian Feldman came up with a brilliant action that he's calling "Tilikunundrum": Starting at 6 a.m. tomorrow, he will spend 18 hours in a bathtub at SeaHouse, a private residence in Orlando. Each hour in the tub will represent one of the 18 long years of Tilly's captivity, during which he's been forced to eat, sleep, swim, defecate, and perform in pools that, to an orca, are equivalent in size to a bathtub.
Brian says, "If you think that's wrong, you're right." We say, "Right on!"
You're invited to volunteer at the event—and if you'd like to watch but can't make it in person, the event will be streamed live.
Now that Brian Feldman has shared his caring and clever plan to protest SeaWorld's cruelties, describe the awesome action(s) you'll be orcastrating* on Tilly's behalf.
Written by Karin Bennett
*Must. Stop. Punning.
This past weekend's weather may have snowed in New Yorkers and sent Hawaiians running for the hills, but pouring rain in both Orlando and San Diego didn't slow down PETA demonstrators outside SeaWorld amusement parks. Armed with wellies and warnings, they delivered urgent messages about SeaWorld's ticking time bombs.
Experts agree: Whales like Tilly, who grabbed and killed his trainer in front of horrified SeaWorld patrons last week, should not be crammed into tiny tanks and trained to perform tricks for their dinner. These marine mammals are 6 tons of frustration and misery, and it's really only a matter of time before tragedy strikes again. SeaWorld's cruelty to Tilly and other captive orcas is bad enough, but the corporation's refusal to stop cashing in on the whales is also irresponsible and dangerous.
As for me, I've only seen orcas once, and that was from deck of a ferry boat in Seattle. They were leaping out of the Puget Sound, and the whole scene took my breath away. Like anyone else who's ever spotted these magnificent animals living as nature intended, I know that their sad lives at SeaWorld is nothing like it.
It's a hazy day here on the Right Coast. As I watch leaves fall and steam rise from my soy mocha, the mood is set for a lazy (yet highly skilled) meander through gossip rags for fun stuff. Here are my faves:
Thanks for stopping by! Catch you next time, and don't forget to hug all your vegetarian friends.
Written by Missy Lane
You didn't think we meant the couple from the Garden of Eden, did you? Naw. Another young pair, who just happen to be named Adam and Eve, joined other caring individuals in Orlando to school residents about McCruelty McDonald's. The fast-food giant refuses to improve conditions for millions of chickens, many of whom suffer broken bones or die in vats of scalding-hot water—while they are still conscious—on their way to becoming McNuggets.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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