“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 »
A new attraction at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is being touted as a Broadway-style show, complete with costumed actors, animation projected on a huge screen, music recorded by a 61-piece orchestra, and, oh yeah, dolphins imprisoned for life in a chlorinated tank. Fun for the whole family—unless the family has a conscience. The aquarium … Read more »
Washington State’s Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is poised to join 14 other U.S. zoos that have closed or are phasing out their elephant exhibits. The zoo is in the middle of discussions about the future of 48-year-old Hanako and 47-year-old Suki, the two female Asian elephants kept in the zoo. tanya_little/cc by 2.0 … Read more »
Patrons of a California pet-store chain were appalled when they saw black-tipped reef sharks displayed in small tanks. As is the case with most captive sharks, these animals were swimming into the tanks’ glass walls, resulting in chronic injuries. After PETA was alerted to the sharks’ plight last summer, we convinced the chain to … 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 »
As more and more people come to understand how marine animals suffer and die while held captive at SeaWorld, the cruel aquarium chain is increasingly desperate to find some way to make itself look less heartless. Now, it’s attempting to ride the adorable tails of dogs and cats by offering free tickets to its theme … Read more »
On Super Bowl Sunday, a wave of 50 protestors crashed onto SeaWorld San Diego’s main entrance shouting, “Shame on you—free Shamu!” Then four “orcas” made their way into the intersection Beatles-style and lay “beached” for half an hour until they were dragged away by police and arrested. Orca Road All we are saying is give whales … Read more »
Two former trainers at SeaWorld have released a report that includes firsthand information about the stress that killer whales endure in captivity—stress that the ex-trainers feel led to the deaths of at least two SeaWorld employees. Jeff Ventre (now a doctor) and John Jett (now a biology professor) worked at SeaWorld Orlando and knew trainer … Read more »
Officials at SeeJailed—oops, I mean SeaWorld—have announced the results of their Facebook poll asking what the marine abusement park should name its newest inmate, a baby killer whale. The winning name is Makaio, from Hawaiian words meaning “gift of God.” Since PETA’s quick survey reveals that five out of five gods do not approve of … Read more »
PETA asked for your help in picking the naughtiest person of 2010, and boy, did you guys come through—to the tune of more than 2.7 million lumps of coal! And the “winner” is … Ronald McDonald. The cruel clown got a run for his (blood) money from the CEO of SeaWorld, but in the end, … Read more »
Whether you believe in karma or payback, in 2010 we saw that for every action there is a reaction. We’ve rounded up the top six “Payback Is Hell” stories of 2010. It’s safe to say that animals are just as tired of cruelty to animals as we are. A bull decided that he no longer … Read more »
Dear 2010, It’s over. We’ll always treasure the victories that we achieved for animals in our year together, but it’s time for us to move on and take a look at the trends that we can expect in 2011: In Donning Kerin Bieber fever Modern Family Chelsea Handler Black Swan The Biggest Loser‘s Bob Harper Meat-Free … Read more »
Picking the top 10 PETA Files blog posts of the past year was harder than figuring out the plot of Inception, but we’ve narrowed it down to these posts, which cover everything from Lady Gaga’s meat dress to our “Pope Condom” campaign: PETA’s investigation of international animal dealer U.S. Global Exotics leads to the record-setting … Read more »
As if Tommy Lee’s original letter to SeaWorld about the park’s disturbing orca-breeding practices weren’t high-five-worthy enough, it gets even better! A SeaWorld rep responded, “The process of collecting semen for [artificial insemination] doesn’t differ in any meaningful way from the techniques employed in managing livestock or other species for zoological display. … [O]ur trainers … Read more »
Caring folks continue to plead for basic compassion at SeaWorld and call on officials to enforce anti-cruelty laws. But Tilikum, the orca who has killed three people, is still confined to a cramped, claustrophobic tank that’s barely bigger than the size of his body to prevent him from having any physical contact with the trainers—except when they … Read more »
