‘Imprisoning’ animals is cruel, whether it’s tigers or orcas
Like recent columnist Valerie Greene (“’Tiger King’ showed two sides of animal activism,” May 14) I considered working at SeaWorld my dream job. I fell in love with orcas on a family trip to SeaWorld when I was a kid. In 1993, I got an apprentice position at SeaWorld and worked my way up to the highest-ranking senior trainer position at Shamu Stadium.
During my 14-year career, I worked with 20 killer whales in three different marine parks. And it was my love for these animals that made me hand in my resignation after asking myself the paramount question: Is having killer whales, or any animal, in captivity for profit the right thing to do?
I came to realize that watching orcas and dolphins do tricks doesn’t do anything to foster respect for these animals, much less contribute to their survival in the wild. Instead, it glamorizes abuse and dehumanizes these highly intelligent animals. I loved the orcas more than anything, but I finally had to admit to myself that my love was not enough. It became clear that we could never come close to meeting their true needs.
For orcas and dolphins forced to perform at SeaWorld, for elephants bracing themselves for the whack of a bullhook in the circus and for tigers exploited by the likes of “Joe Exotic,” it’s a one-way street. The animals are not willing participants; they are captives who comply or go hungry (I was required to withhold food from orcas who didn’t perform — sometimes up to two-thirds of their daily rations), get beaten, or even worse.
At least five tigers were shot to death at “Joe Exotic’s” roadside zoo. Nearly three dozen elephants, including five babies, died at the hands of Ringling Bros., and more than 40 orcas — including many of those whom I worked with — have perished in SeaWorld’s cramped tanks. That’s not conservation. That’s carnage.
I don’t regret my years at SeaWorld because if I hadn’t had the career that I had, I would never have been able to expose the company by providing direct testimony from more than a decade of hands-on experience as a senior orca trainer in the documentary I was also an expert witness for both the federal government and during the debate about the California legislation that now protects captive orcas and forced SeaWorld to heavily restrict the way it uses them for “entertainment.”
Most important, it forced the company to end its breeding program and separating mother orcas from their calves. I will never forget the enormous amount of medication that I gave out every day to so many orcas, or how I rationalized away all the sickness and disease that killed them prematurely so I could toe the company line. The PR spin, repeated ad nauseam,
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“world class veterinary care” and “our animals are healthy and thriving,” is demonstrably false.
Of course, I also lost my friend Dawn Brancheau. As if her death weren’t traumatic enough, those of us who worked with her and cared about her had to listen in silence as SeaWorld management found a way to blame her for being dismembered. They shamelessly denied, under oath, that they even knew it was dangerous for trainers to work in close proximity to killer whales. One federal judge after another saw through their lies.
As society has evolved and become more educated, I’m glad so many are now asking important questions: Why are these animals in captivity? How, exactly, do captive orcas help to conserve wild orcas? Are they simply here for profit?
For me, loving the orcas meant walking away and no longer being complicit in their abuse and exploitation. Ensuring that animals of all species continue to thrive means protecting them in their own natural habitats, not imprisoning them for entertainment.
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