The very mention of SeaWorld brings up strong emotions in people. Many of which are tied to the captivity of the orca and the dangers that come with keeping them there. Recently SeaWorld tried to appeal the safety citations issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after one of Sea World's veteran trainers, Dawn Brancheau, was killed during a show in 2010. U.S. Court of Appeals denied their appeal, stating "The administrative record establishes that SeaWorld did not lack fair notice because the hazard arising from trainers' close contact with killer whales in performance is preventable," Though it has been discussed, It is uncertain whether or not SeaWorld will next try appealing to the Supreme Court.
Sea World is a touchy subject for a good reason, We can't keep animals this big in captivity and expect them to be happy. Animals have breaking points too and since we can't read them like we can most other people it's hard to determine when they will snap. It's not surprising that people die from animal training. My biggest problem with the subject of animal captivity is the polar sides people take on it. More so than most other topics, people either seem completely against or completely for keeping animals in captivity. I personally don't feel that orcas should perform, and I also think that if we do choose to cage them, we give them much more space, but I can't say I'm completely against it either, studying animals both in the wild and in captivity is important. All around, it's just a touchy subject.
link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/11/us/seaworld-ruling/?hpt=zite_zite3_featured
No comments:
Post a Comment