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 for a willful violation of federal law and fined the company the maximum amount allowed. PETA supporters were outside OSHA's Florida office to stand up for the animals who live and die in cramped tanks at SeaWorld.

Photo courtesy of Carla Wilson

Even though Tilikum had killed twice before—and despite a history of trainer deaths, hospitalizations, and injuries—SeaWorld's attorney argued that Brancheau's death was merely an "unfortunate event" and that its training process made interactions with killer whales "safe." Yet, SeaWorld's curator of animal training acknowledged that these procedures couldn't have saved Brancheau after she was dragged into the water by Tilikum.

Government attorneys stated that killer whales are "large, powerful and non-domesticated animals" with "the potential to cause serious physical harm or death to people who get near them." They argued that "SeaWorld's killer whale training program doesn't change the essential facts that harm or death to people is possible. Their program doesn't eliminate what SeaWorld itself recognizes as a calculated risk."

The hearing is expected to last all week. Stay tuned for updates.

 

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

ivillage / CC

After the death of yet another orca trainer by frustrated, tormented Tillikum, retired Price Is Right host and outspoken animal defender Bob Barker issued a plea to SeaWorld to move Tillikum and its other imprisoned sea animals to sanctuaries.

Well, the list of celebrities speaking out against the use and abuse of orcas is starting to read like a Hollywood "Who's Who" and includes the following stars:

• PETA's BFF, Pamela Anderson, linked her Twitter and Facebook fans to Bob's plea.
• America's Got Talent host Nick Cannon's first tweet said "Killer whale kills again at Sea World! People need to stop messing with animals with the word 'KILLER.'" His second? "Has anyone ever seen a Black Whale trainer? #wedontdothatsh!t."
• Avatar star Laz Alonso tweeted 20 times—and counting—calling for the release of imprisoned sea animals. He wrote, "Killer whales should not b in captivity & jumping around 4 ur selfish enjoyment …" and "God put that whale on this earth 2 swim freely & kill for food Not eat dead fish thrown at its mouth in exchange for splashing kids …." He also tweeted, "We can enjoy nature without having to disturb, control, capture & confine 2 'closet space' when it longs 4 freedom."

(Laz, if you're reading, we'd love to have you join our campaign to free whales. Call us.)

So, we'd like to know: How are you getting the word out about SeaWorld's cruelty?

Written by Karin Bennett

MagazinePK / CC

Tons! No, we didn't mean it like that. Jessica knows what it's like to live in a fishbowl, and although she may not be the brightest bulb in the room, we're hoping that she might empathize with whales and dolphins who are forced to be on display their entire lives and cancel her upcoming performance at SeaWorld.

Considering her stint on the MTV reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica—and the relentless scrutiny that she's under 24/7—we think that Jessica might be able to relate to the whales, dolphins, and other miserable animals at SeaWorld whose every move is gawked at and snickered over as if they were on some bad reality TV show. At least, we hope she can.

Read the letter that we sent to Jessica via her papa, Joe, asking her to support the dolphins and to cancel her upcoming show at SeaWorld.

AwesomeFlorida / CC

Discovery Cove doesn’t sound like such a fun place when what you’re discovering is that animals kept in captivity and forced to perform stupid stunts in a pool the size, to them, of a sink tend to die young.

This past weekend, a dolphin named Sharky collided with another dolphin during a live “performance” and died shortly afterwards. The story has been doing the rounds of the international news media, which invariably uses terms like “freak accident” and “random,” interspersed with the occasional quote about the incident being “unfortunate”. Which is all very nice, I guess, but they’re missing a key point about this story: Dolphins don’t do well in captivity because they don’t belong there, and one tragedy or another is inevitable when these animals are required to perform tricks that are as unnatural to them as they are inhumane.

Sharky, like the vast majority of dolphins held captive in marine mammal parks, died a few decades short of his natural life expectancy. The only difference between his story and that of his counterparts around the country is that his story actually got reported on.

More info on marine mammal parks here.

askmen / CC

There’s a big heart in that big chest. In her first visit to the Nation’s Capital since becoming a U.S. citizen, Pamela Anderson made a personal appeal to the government on Friday to drag itself out of the dark ages as far as animal testing is concerned.

Pam (who also stuck around to lobby the guests alongside PETA VP Dan Mathews at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday) hand-delivered a PETA science report—the impetus for a recent front-page Washington Post story—condemning the failure of the Department of Health and Human Services to use sophisticated, non-animal test methods widely used in Europe, in place of decades-old, cruel and crude animal tests for toxicity. Asked about her decision to act as a courier on PETA’s behalf, she said, "Being a citizen excites me not just because I can vote, but because I can crack the whip on Capitol Hill to defend animals."

And she does it all with a smile. You rule, Pam.

P.S. If you want to help out yourself by contacting your members of Congress about this issue, you can do so through the webform here.

… So say a number of Canadian consumers, who have just filed a formal complaint against the Fur Council of Canada (FCC) with the Competition Bureau of Canada. The complaint—which has been signed by representatives of animal protection groups from British Columbia to Nova Scotia—alleges that the FCC has attempted to gain an unfair competitive advantage by using preposterous claims that fur production is “Eco-Friendly” and that people who choose fur alternatives are damaging the environment because of the energy that’s required to make faux fur.

In fact, the opposite is true. Not only are fur garments treated with toxic chemicals to keep them from decomposing, but fur production—which government agencies around the world have identified as a major pollutant—poisons waterways and consumes resources at an alarming rate. It is estimated that it takes 15 times as much energy to produce a fur coat from ranch-raised animals as it does to produce a faux-fur coat. Not to mention the pain and suffering and the existence of natural fibres like cotton, etc.

And it’s against the rules to lie in order to gain a competitive advantage. So the FCC needs to stop it. I’ll let you know how that goes.

You can take action on this issue here.