PETA Statement: Walrus at SeaWorld Died After Decades of Deprivation

For Immediate Release:
June 11, 2015

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Delcianna Winders in response to the recent death of Obie, a walrus at SeaWorld San Diego:

As a veterinarian recently exposed, Obie the walrus had nothing to do at SeaWorld but press his mouth against the glass of his tiny, algae-covered tank and repeatedly regurgitate and swallow his food. He was bored, he was blind, and he died a decade short of his species’ natural life expectancy. This is SeaWorld’s much-hyped “rescue program”: life in a sad tiny tank. SeaWorld needs to do what’s right for these animals—and that’s building them coastal sanctuaries where they’ll finally have some semblance of a normal life.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and more information about our campaign is available at SeaWorldOfHurt.com.

For Media: Contact PETA's
Media Response Team.

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 Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind