Video Available: 12-Year-Old Jumps Barricade At Macy’s Parade To Protest SeaWorld Float

For Immediate Release:
November 28, 2013

Contact:
Colleen O’Brien 202-483-7382

This morning, as PETA members lined the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade route in order to protest its SeaWorld float, 12-year-old Rose McCoy jumped over the parade barricade while holding a sign reading, “Boycott SeaWorld,” and protested alongside the float before being escorted back behind the barricade by authorities. Video footage of Rose protesting alongside the SeaWorld float is available, and Rose is available for interviews.

“SeaWorld takes baby orcas from their mothers and forces them to live in small concrete tanks, never knowing what it’s like to spend time with family or swim long distances,” says Rose. “I hope people who saw me at the parade will boycott SeaWorld until it stops tearing families apart and returns these animals to their ocean homes.”

SeaWorld is struggling to regain its footing in the wake of the documentary film Blackfish, which has been airing repeatedly on CNN since October, and a steady dip in attendance since the spring. SeaWorld’s involvement in this year’s parade is a thinly veiled attempt to overhaul its image. More than 80,000 PETA supporters e-mailed Macy’s asking that the SeaWorld float be canceled.

For more information, please visit PETA’s website SeaWorldOfHurt.com.