No More Orca in Captivity! Yaahoooo!

Debby

Well-known Member
Talk about an idea whose time has come and indeed is long overdue! Seaworld will end their captive whale breeding program and the stupid pet tricks by whales!!! Yahoo! So next time somebody tells you that petitions and such don't work, think of this event. Mind you, it would be even better if they were going to retire them to sea pens but hey, fodder for the next round of petitions yes?
[video]http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/03/17/seaworld-orcas-killer-whales/81900498/[/video]


When we went whale watching last summer, we had the added magic of finding ourselves in the midst of at least 200 wild dolphins and a wild killer whale who'd apparently made a habit of visiting the area every year for a few weeks. He/she normally lives up in the Arctic, but a holiday down south was on his yearly itinerary :D! It was so fabulous to see that guy swim by, maybe 50 feet from the boat! Totally awesome!

And poor Tilikum (who has killed three trainers in his 35 or so years) is sick and there is a likelihood that he will die but at least he'll finally be free. And when he dies, that will be three dead whales in the past 12 months or so I've heard. Considering that there is a whale off the coast of British Columbia who's been verified to be about 103 years old, the fact that captive whales seldom live past 45, it's quite evident that captivity is wrong, wrong, wrong. As well, Seaworld has been losing money ever since that movie Blackfish came out so I guess they finally realized that the public is no longer behind whales for entertainment at the expense of their lives and well being!
 

So wonderful to read this,Debby. So much more work to be done on behalf of the animal kingdom. So much nicer to see these dolphins and whales in the wild than on display. I have seen the dolphins also, and it is truly an experience of a lifetime. I hope you managed to get photos of them.
 
It is great news.
It is sad to think what we do to animals for being on display.


The trainer of the animals that were in the movie '"life of Pi' was caught abusing them.

And the animals are called animals.
 

I just watched "BlackFish" tonight...dear Gawd. The dog fighting and cock fighting we can only control, can't stop them all. Then there's something like rodeo...we can't pry guns out of peoples hands, how do we stop something as all Americkan as rodeo ya know? But I hear ya. At least it's a victory against SeaWorld.
 
That is good news Debby, I've been whale watching and I am against any captivity of these beautiful animals for human entertainment.
 
I haven't been to a zoo in over 40 years because I dislike seeing once wild animals caged......I don't care if they were born in captivity or not or how big they've made their zoo habitat.
 
Well, perhaps we should petition against 'Trophy hunters' - the sort who are rich enough to go to Africa where they are provided with animals to shoot. I have seen documentary films showing these "sportsmen & women" boasting about the animals they have killed - just so that they could tick them off their list. Almost more disgusting was that they were also providing their young children the opportunity to kill wild animals for "sport".

Perhaps we shouldn't blame the countries that facilitate this - doubtless they need hard western cash, but I have nothing but contempt for those who gratituously kill wildlife.

I will add the caveat that I do approve (in principle) of zoos and of hunting for food or pest control.
 
Personally, I don't like the way we use animals pretty much at all. And I know we've got a bunch of dog and kitty lovers here, but seriously folks, some of the things that I've seen on the internet (things people do to them) has me even questioning whether humans should be entrusted with those sweet lives. Birds as pets are problematic also. How many little birds live the exact same kind of life as Tilikum, imprisoned alone in tiny cages for their entire lives and I'm also a person who absolutely loves little budgies. Our little Oliver lived for eleven years and periodically enjoyed our spaghetti dinners with us (until he'd decide to jump onto the pile of spaghetti at which point he usually got shuttled back to his cage with an accompanying noodle) but the only way I'd have another budgie is if I gave a home to a couple from a rescue group that I know of and only if I could provide free flying and a very large cage.

Rodeos, big problem with that, horse racing, more issues, greyhound racing, bad, bad, bad........but at least SeaWorld won't be bringing any more little orca into the world and eventually Tilikum and the others will die and that'll be the end of that sordid part of human history. So let's celebrate that change yes!
 
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This is long over due, Blackfish was not the first revelation of conditions on the effects of captivity. I think it was the movie Free Willy or something where a lot of those issues starting getting attention with news reports and specials around the time of the movie.
 
I dunno Debbie I guess I would address caged birds as a different kettle of fish. The people I've known with birds regularly let them fly free in the house. Best buddy had a cockatiel that had a cage door that was always open, unless there was an exterior door propped. Sunny lived for like twenty years so they were doing something right. Companion animals and I think sometimes they do get superior lives to the wild. I'm sure my daughter's ratty pack are happier with their hand mixed meal every night than what they could scrounge for in the local park. They also have a huge enclosure. In the wild they'd have to worry about cars, poison, predators. As pets they can live much longer.
 
I have one cockatiel. He is 16 now. He is one of four that I rescued from a garage sale. The other 3 lived quite awhile also. I brought them home in a cage that wasn't even suitable for one bird let alone four. I couldn't wait to get out of the car because the water that was left in their cup smelled so bad. I immediately went out and bought a huge floor model cage. I left the door open whenever possible,they usually liked to perch on the top. In the summer they went out on the porch. Seeing the condition they were in, I don't think they should be for sale either. I'm sure there are many more in the condition I found mine. I think we are in the minority when it comes to keeping our birds safe and happy. And don't get me started on the sale of parrots and baby chicks for Easter. Makes me sick!
 
You reminded me of one of my husband's Easter memories. Live pastel colored chicks and baby ducks for sale, him and his sister could each pick one. From what I understand his grandmother would make them dinner eventually.
 
I dunno Debbie I guess I would address caged birds as a different kettle of fish. The people I've known with birds regularly let them fly free in the house. Best buddy had a cockatiel that had a cage door that was always open, unless there was an exterior door propped. Sunny lived for like twenty years so they were doing something right. Companion animals and I think sometimes they do get superior lives to the wild. I'm sure my daughter's ratty pack are happier with their hand mixed meal every night than what they could scrounge for in the local park. They also have a huge enclosure. In the wild they'd have to worry about cars, poison, predators. As pets they can live much longer.


I'm not saying some folks aren't great at taking care of their birds, but we have probably all heard of or know some poor bird that sat in a tiny cage it's entire life and that was it's world. When my daughters were young, one class had pet rats and one class had a cockatiel. The rats escaped their cage, found the cockatiels small cage and because he couldn't fly away, the kids arrived the next morning to discover blood everywhere because the rats had chewed the birds foot off. And how many cockatoo's wind up ripping their own feathers out because of the stress of being a prisoner and passed from owner to owner because people lose interest in having them due to the mess, the noise and the need for constant attention as well as their aggression when they reach sexual maturity? Then there's the birds that are trapped in the wild and smuggled into countries to be pets around the world and how many of them die in transport. The 'few' good examples doesn't justify the millions of victims does it? A long life with no quality is not much of a life.

My daughter bought two baby lovebirds before she became a vegan herself. She bought them the biggest cage that would fit in her apartment, boarded her little birds with a breeder any time she had to go away for a couple days, had them running around the house and flying all over and there came a point when they reached sexual maturity that she began to realize that she was thwarting every natural instinct to be birds and have babies and fly at will and she began telling anybody who expressed an interest in birds what a mistake it was to have gotten them. The time they require, the mess, the noise, she told them all about 'having birds'.

Yesterday, I moved an old watering can from the garden to the junk pile and I discovered that a little mouse had fallen in sometime during the winter and drowned or froze to death. I'm still feeling bad for that little mouse and the terrible death he experienced. And when I decided to live a vegan lifestyle, being the person that I am, I researched it endlessly, including how humans treat animals and I have seen so many examples of humans inflicting the most horrible pain and suffering on every conceivable variety of animals to the point that the 'few' no longer justifies human interaction in my opinion. I do the best I can for the cat and dog that live with me as I'm sure everyone here does, but all the good treatment all of us here and friends and family give to our loved pets, in the overall picture, is a drop in the bucket of animal/human interactions. Most of it is 'not nice'.
 
I'm all for rescuing animals that are in trouble or homeless, but when it comes to breeders or smugglers who are looking for profit from pets, I've changed my tune entirely. I've always liked animals more than most of the people that I've met but I would never breed and sell animals to make a living. My little dog Lucy was an absolutely gorgeous little dog who came from show stock but was a washout as a show dog because she was too timid and her breeder just wanted to rehome her. She looked like a five pound Samoyed with her fluffy white fur and big dark eyes, but she got spayed as soon as she was old enough so that there would never be puppies that I'd have to worry and wonder about . Even our boy rabbit got neutered when he was going to have a lady companion in the 32 square foot cage he lived in, so that there would be no baby bunnies to give away.
 


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