Peninsula Daily News news services
SAN DIEGO — A lawsuit will be filed today by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — PETA — that alleges that theme park orcas have been illegally enslaved for years and should be freed under the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment.
The legal action, which is being taken by PETA following 18 months of preparation, specifically seeks a legal declaration that the five killer whales that perform at SeaWorld’s San Diego and Orlando, Fla., parks are being held as slaves in violation of the Constitution’s ban on slavery, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on its website ( www.signonsandiego.com ) on Tuesday.
Further, the lawsuit asks that the orcas eventually be released into their natural habitat — such as the Salish Sea between Washington and Canada — under the supervision of an international team of orca experts.
Joining PETA in the lawsuit are a team of international orca experts and two former SeaWorld trainers, said PETA attorney Jeff Kerr.
Kerr said that it’s the first lawsuit of its kind to apply the constitutional ban on slavery to animals.
SeaWorld counters that it’s baseless and “in many ways offensive.”
“PETA has once again showed that it prefers publicity stunts to the hard work of caring for, rescuing and helping animals,” said a statement from SeaWorld.
The plaintiffs in the suit, which will be filed in U.S. District Court, are orcas Corky, Kasatka and Ulises at SeaWorld San Diego, and Tilikum and Katina in Orlando.
“Each of these five wild-captured orcas was forcibly seized from their homes and families and are held captive in concrete boxes that causes them great stress and illness,” Kerr said.
“They’re forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld profit and have been turned into virtual breeding machines to create more performers for SeaWorld shows.”
“Today, while PETA was issuing news releases comparing the care for animals in zoological institutions to the abhorrent institution of human slavery, SeaWorld San Diego was returning a rehabilitated green sea turtle to the wild,” noted SeaWorld’s statement. “That animal is one of more than 20,000 rescued in SeaWorld’s long history.”
