After hearing from PETA supporters and other concerned citizens, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced this week that it is proposing to close a loophole that, until now, has denied captive chimpanzees protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). If the proposed rule is adopted and properly enforced, as PETA has advocated, Hollywood will no … Read more »
Tyrese is already a Grammy-nominated R&B singer-songwriter and a rapper, an actor, a bestselling author, a television producer, and a model, and now he’s adding “animal advocate” to his résumé. He posted this breathtaking picture of an orca in his or her ocean home on Instagram, with the caption “Shows me [that] certain animals shouldn’t be … Read more »
Forty years is a long time to be stuck in a bathtub. But that’s reality for Lolita, an orca who has been imprisoned in the tiniest orca tank in North America—at the Miami Seaquarium—since she was captured and torn away from her family more than four decades ago. She has no other orcas for companionship. But … Read more »
When SeaWorld decided to offer up 20 million shares of common stock in an initial public offering, no one expected PETA to be one of the first in line to buy. But Wall Street was in for a surprise. We quickly purchased the smallest number of shares necessary to give us the right to attend … Read more »
Update: Prompted by PETA’s complaint about a child who was bitten by a dolphin at SeaWorld, the USDA conducted an investigation and cited the marine park for several violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including the use of expired surgical materials, some almost a decade old. “The use of expired medications and materials … is … Read more »
A newspaper exposé has led to an investigation by Ontario’s Environment Ministry into four mass animal graves at the province’s Marineland theme park. According to a former park employee, the graves contain the bodies of more than 1,000 animals, including orcas, dolphins, seals, walruses, bears, bison, and deer. Former marine-mammal trainer Phil Demers described one … Read more »
Does this sound like déjà vu to you? A weekend visitor to SeaWorld in San Antonio has sent PETA disturbing photographs of a dolphin who appears to be missing a chunk of flesh from his or her lower mandible. The injury is strikingly similar to the one sustained by an orca named Nakai at the … Read more »
The Goddess of Pop is also a goddess to pups. When Cher tweeted, asking for information from PETA on how to help dogs left to face the harsh winter weather alone outdoors, many of her fans responded, and PETA sent her information on our “Angels for Animals” doghouse sponsorship program. Elsewhere on Twitter, Miley Cyrus showed us … Read more »
Miley Cyrus might be ditching dairy products, and we’re nodding our heads like “Yeah!” It all started when Mileybird tweeted, “Worst tummy ache ever. No more lactose for me.” We quickly responded to tell Miley that she wasn’t alone and that she should be proud to be dairy-free. We included a link to information on delicious … Read more »
The fight to free Lolita, the lone captive orca at the Miami Seaquarium, continues: PETA, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), the Orca Network, and private citizens concerned about Lolita’s living conditions have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), challenging its outrageous decision to renew the Seaquarium’s federal Animal Welfare Act … Read more »
The grisly photos of Nakai, an orca imprisoned at SeaWorld who has a dinner plate–size gaping wound on his lower mandible that he likely sustained when another orca attacked him, have sparked nationwide outrage. As PETA alleged in its complaint to government regulators, SeaWorld confined Nakai to a small tank with other orcas with whom he … Read more »
Update: After visiting SeaWorld and taking photographs of Nakai’s injury (two of which are shown below), Dr. Ingrid N. Visser, founder and principal scientist of the Orca Research Trust, found that there are “puncture marks that match orca teeth spacing,” which “is a clear indication that an altercation between the orcas was involved.” The puncture … Read more »
Although some aquariums are still willing to host raucous parties despite knowing that the pounding music is hell on marine mammals’ sensitive sonar systems, more progressive aquariums are refusing. Case in point: Rocker Tony Kanal teamed up with PETA to let the under-construction Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto know that rock belongs in arenas, … Read more »
Eight trainers at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, have handed in their resignations and are speaking out to the Toronto Star about the cruel and abusive conditions at the marine animal prison, which PETA has been after for years. Because they were made to sign nondisclosure agreements about what goes on behind the scenes at … Read more »