Five Killer Whales Sue SeaWorld

PETA Alleges that Killer Whales Deserve Protecting From Enslavement

To many, SeaWorld is a place of vacations and wonder as they watch giant marine animals perform feats of great acrobatics. For others, however, the use of marine mammals in this type of entertainment forum is considered unethical. Should killer whales be given the same freedoms as human beings? Should they be protected from being “enslaved?” According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, they should.

Who is PETA?

PETA stands for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization led by Ingrid Newkirk and based out of Norfolk, Virginia. PETA is a non-profit corporation that employs approximately three hundred employees and receives the support of some two million worldwide. Founded in 1980 by Ingrid Newkirk, PETA utilizes their manpower to draw attention to unethical treatment of animals all around the world. PETA has been known to use undercover operations and campaigns to draw attention to various big name companies and research groups that rely upon animals that are being treated inhumanely in a variety of settings including: pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, fur farming, fighting and most recently, entertainment. PETA, the group who live by the slogan: "Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment," most recently made news when they filed a lawsuit against SeaWorld on behalf of five killer whales.

Killer Whales Names as Plaintiffs in the PETA Filed Law Suit

In early 2012, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a legal suit with a United States Judge claiming that five killer whales at the SeaWorld facility were being enslaved. The group argues that the killer whales deserve the same protection against slavery that is provided to United States citizens in the United States constitution. US District Judge Jeffrey Miller is more than troubled by the case and while he will issue his ruling at a later date he already shows doubt that the killer whales would be able to be represented as plaintiffs in a legal suit.

Details of the PETA Law Suit Against SeaWorld

The case filed by PETA names five killer whales from various SeaWorld locations as the plaintiffs. The whales named in the case are: Tilikum and Katina of SeaWorld Orlando and Corky, Ulises and Kasatka of SeaWorld San Diego. According to the suit, the five killer whales are being enslaved by the SeaWorld franchise as they are being forcibly confined to tanks and pushed to perform in daily entertainment shows in the marine themed theme parks.

Can Killer Whales Really Be Named as Plaintiffs?

One of the major concerns that continues to be spotlighted in reference to this filing is whether killer whales can legally be named as plaintiffs. Judge Jeffrey Miller already seems to have his doubts and there is no doubt that the representing attorney for the SeaWorld franchise does as well. According to the lawyer representing the parks, Theodore Shaw, there is simply no indication that any animal was considered when “We the people” was written in to the US constitution. According to PETA’s attorney Jeffrey Kerr, however, all “living, breathing, feeling beings have rights and can be enslaved,” and that these rights should not be infringed upon simply because a being is not born in to the human race.

The Possibility of a Landmark Case

While the very idea of the five named plaintiffs in this case actually coming out on top seems preposterous, according to PETA this could be a landmark case. Jeffrey Kerr cites that this case could possibly mean huge things for animals of all species as for the first time in the history of the United States the federal court is faced with an argument that all living breathing creatures have rights. The trouble with this concept of a “landmark case” however, according to SeaWorld’s lawyer is that if the case is successfully won it could have a number of other serious implications. It would not just be the killer whales of SeaWorld that would be protected from enslavement but the ruling would set the stage for other cases  to follow. How would such a landmark case impact zoos or even bomb detection dogs? The answer is that if PETA is successful in winning this case, there is a high likelihood that just about every animal focused “job” or entertainment forum would be targeted next.

Why Would It Be Such a Bad Thing to Ban these Animal Centered Forums?

 There are those who ask why it would be such a bad thing for circuses or zoo’s to be banned, and in many cases it wouldn’t be…but there are also many cases where it would. There are the zoos that implement breeding programs designed to improve populations of endangered animals. If zoos are abolished then these breeding programs will fall by the wayside simply because there is no way to captively breed animals without “enslaving them” in captivity. What about the drugs dogs or bomb sniffing dogs that truly enjoy their work? Would it be considered freeing to them to have their job taken from them? What about the many lives that are saved by those bomb sniffing dogs? Certainly there is no one saying that the lives of these dogs are less important than those that they save, but there is a point where one has to ask who this ruling would help? These animals released back in to the wild are mostly animals that have been raised in captivity, animals that take a feeling of self satisfaction from their “job” or animals that are thriving in captivity where they are otherwise suffering from dwindling populations in the wild.

The Bottom Line

There just may be circumstances where a forced enslavement of animals ban would be beneficial – take for example some smaller circus groups noted for abusive enslavement of their animals. That said though, there are also many animal centered forums that promote humane treatment of animals and education programs for the conservation of endangered species worldwide.