After its request to dismiss the OSHA case against it was rejected, SeaWorld called its first witness, Jenny Mairot, the supervisor of animal training at the Orlando park. Mairot started at SeaWorld a year after graduating from high school and has never received formal training as an animal behaviorist or trainer outside the organization. Despite … Read more »
Rojer | cc by 2.0 After a fall recess, SeaWorld is back in court to resume its fight against a citation imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which found that the theme park exposed its employees to serious risks after trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by the orca Tilikum last year. SeaWorld … Read more »
Next Media Animation Limited—the number one source for print and online news in Taiwan and Hong Kong—posted to YouTube its own oddly compelling spin on PETA’s lawsuit against SeaWorld. Enjoy: Please post this great piece on your Facebook page and Twitter account and ask every parent and grandparent you know never to buy a ticket … Read more »
In the first case of its kind, PETA, three marine-mammal experts, and two former orca trainers are filing a lawsuit asking a federal court to declare that five wild-caught orcas forced to perform at SeaWorld are being held as slaves in violation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The filing—the first ever seeking … Read more »
Update: While SeaWorld’s hearing is in recess, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk is giving the park some great reasons to use the time to evaluate how to get out of the captive-animal business. Read what she has to say here. The following was posted September 24, 2011 SeaWorld’s appeal has been adjourned until November, but … Read more »
On day four of SeaWorld’s appeal, Shana Groves, a SeaWorld senior trainer who was bitten on the thigh by an orca during a performance five years ago, testified that she had completed an incident report as required by the marine park and was surprised to learn that the attack was one of the many episodes left out … Read more »
Day three of SeaWorld’s appeal brought out more skeletons from the marine park’s closet. Attorneys for the government brought up incident after incident that were left out of SeaWorld’s corporate incident log, including the attack leading to trainer Dawn Brancheau’s death and attacks by an orca who had a penchant for grabbing trainers’ ponytails. Chuck … Read more »
On day two of SeaWorld’s appeal of the penalty leveled by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), senior trainer Lynne Schaber testified that trainers who work with orcas receive special instruction on Tilikum and a “Tilly Talk,” in which they’re informed of Tilikum’s involvement with two previous deaths and that if they enter the … Read more »
In an appalling display of its mercenary mindset, SeaWorld is fighting a federal charge that it exposed its employees to risks “causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm,” which was brought after trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by the orca Tilikum last year. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) cited SeaWorld … Read more »
Oooh, don’t miss this: The deadly consequences of the marine mammal entertainment industry are on screen in the new film A Fall From Freedom, produced by San Francisco–based EarthViews Productions. In hardball interviews with marine scientists, whistleblowing former trainers, and theme park PR mouths, the scope and scale of the suffering of all the dolphins … Read more »
Independence Day is a day to celebrate America’s freedoms, so why would the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) swear in new citizens at SeaWorld—a place that exemplifies the lack of freedom? PETA has fired off a letter to the director of CIS pointing out the irony of holding this joyous occasion where orcas and dolphins … Read more »
We took a dip into peta2’s files and surfaced with this great picture of Hanna from Bidwell, Ohio, that had to be the picture of the month. As part of peta2’s campaign against SeaWorld, Hanna is showing that cramming whales and dolphins into tiny tanks instead of letting them swim freely in the vast … Read more »
“Be Kind to Animals” Week is winding down, but you can keep on helping animals! If you are hitting the road this summer, please drive right on by zoos, roadside animal displays, and marine theme parks. Places like SeaWorld count on vacationers to keep money flowing in, but buying a ticket means supporting the lifelong confinement of orcas, … Read more »
In a world where a man is forced to live the same day of his life over and over again … (I’m doing my best movie trailer voice-over impression here!) For folks who love animals and a good comedy, you’re in for a treat that’s been two years in the negotiating. Through a special grant … Read more »
In a move that shows that its lack of compassion doesn’t stop with orcas, SeaWorld says it intends to once again allow trainers to enter pools containing frustrated 6-ton orcas, endangering their lives. And in case we weren’t already SeaSick, SeaWorld chose to announce its plans on the one-year anniversary of the killing of trainer Dawn Brancheau … Read more »
