Do park animals have rights as humans?

A US court is to decide whether amusement park animals are protected by the same constitutional rights as humans

A California federal court is to decide for the first time in US history whether amusement park animals are protected by the same constitutional rights as humans.

The issue arises from a lawsuit filed by rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in a San Diego court on behalf of five orcas named Tilikum, Katina, Corky, Kasatka and Ulises.

The whales perform water acrobatics at the Seaworld amusement parks in San Diego and in Orlando, Florida.

PETA argues that continuing the whales’ “employment” at Seaworld violates the 13th Amendment to the US constitution, which prohibits slavery. District Judge Jeffrey Miller heard arguments in the complaint on Monday and reviewed the response from Seaworld, which asked that the lawsuit be dismissed. His ruling is expected to come later.

The suit, filed in October 2011, asked that the court declare that the orcas are “held in slavery and/ or involuntary servitude by defendants in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States constitution.”

“It’s a new frontier in civil rights,” said Jeff Kerr, PETA general counsel, who described the hearing as a “historic day.”

“Slavery does not depend on the species of the slave any more than it depends on race, gender or ethnic- ity,” he argued. “Coercion, degradation and subjugation characterise slavery and these orcas have endured all three.”

The complaint says the five killer whales are represented by their “friends” at PETA, which include three former killer whale trainers, a marine biologist and the founder of an organisation that seeks to protect orcas.

Legal guardian

The complaint demands that the court “appoint a legal guardian to effectuate plaintiffs’ transfer from defendants’ facilities to a suitable habitat in accordance with each plaintiff’s individual needs and best interests.”

The courts lack authority to extend the amendment to animals, which could “open a veritable Pandora’s Box of inescapable problems and absurd consequences,” Seaworld argued in motion to dismiss last year.