How Soon Can SeaWorld End Animal Displays? PETA Submits Shareholder Resolution to Find Out

For Immediate Release:
December 2, 2020

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Orlando, Fla. –

PETA, which owns stock in SeaWorld, is submitting a shareholder resolution today asking the company to address two of the most pressing issues it faces—namely, the public’s opposition to captive-animal displays and the impact of the pandemic—by conducting a study to determine how soon the park could feasibly eliminate all programs involving live animals except legitimate rescue work.

“Ending the use of animals in demeaning shows, dangerous encounters, and cruel displays may be SeaWorld’s only hope of bringing back compassionate customers in a post-pandemic world,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on SeaWorld to examine how quickly it could end these archaic practices and start switching to interactive digital displays and other innovative attractions that appeal to ticket buyers.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—purchased stock in SeaWorld when it first became publicly available in 2013. PETA withdrew previous shareholder resolutions calling on SeaWorld to end its orca-breeding program (2016) and stop using dolphins as surfboards in circus-style shows (2020) after the company agreed to do so. Meanwhile, the park has eliminated more than 3,300 positions since the release of Blackfish.

PETA’s shareholder resolution is available upon request. For more information, please visit SeaWorldOfHurt.com or follow PETA on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.