PETA Statement: Dolphin’s Death at SeaWorld San Diego

For Immediate Release:
January 3, 2020

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange in response to the recent death of Steimie, a dolphin at SeaWorld San Diego, reportedly from cancer:

What was it that caused Steimie to develop cancer? Was it SeaWorld’s chemically treated water or chronic stress that negatively affected her immune system? We know that she was born into a lifetime of confinement, bred four times—once with her half-brother—and forced to perform tricks for visitors in exchange for dead fish. PETA is calling on SeaWorld to stop using dolphins as surfboards in circus-style tricks and to release all the animals it currently exploits to seaside sanctuaries, where they could live and die naturally.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and we oppose speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. More information about our campaign against SeaWorld is available here.