From Tank to Tomb: PETA to Hold Memorial for Dead Baby Orca
Latest Death Intensifies Push to Get Orcas Moved to Sanctuaries Before More Succumb to Cruelty of Captivity
For Immediate Release:
July 25, 2017
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
What: The death of 3-month-old orca Kyara at SeaWorld on #BoycottSeaWorldDay has prompted PETA supporters to gather today at the abusement park bearing flowers and “tombstones” that read, “SeaWorld Kills: In Memory of Kyara, Who Didn’t Have to Die. Who’s Next?” Protesters will mourn her short life and demand that the remaining orcas at SeaWorld be released to seaside sanctuaries before the death toll rises.
When: Tuesday, July 25, 12 noon
Where: SeaWorld San Antonio, at the intersection of N. Ellison Drive and Westover Hills Boulevard, San Antonio
“This baby orca is the latest in a long line of captive animals whose hearts stopped beating within SeaWorld’s walls and who were never able to feel the ocean,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on the company to retire all the orcas to seaside sanctuaries before the next fatality.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—notes that 40 orcas have now died on SeaWorld’s watch. Kyara is the third infant and fifth marine mammal to die at SeaWorld this year. While orcas in the wild work cooperatively to find food, share intricate relationships, and traverse up to 100 miles of ocean every day, orcas at SeaWorld are housed in incompatible groups inside tiny tanks and are drugged to manage stress-induced aggressive behavior.
For more information, please visit SeaWorldOfHurt.com.
