Veterinarians at the Miami Seaquarium Are Quitting Because of Chronic Animal Abuse and Deaths

Veterinary staff at Miami Seaquarium are quitting in droves. And it's clear why: animals have been sick and dying, leading to federal citations and probes.

Animal abuse at the facility is rampant. Recent examples include: a broken bolt lodging itself in a captive dolphin's mouth, another dolphin found with a nail stuck inside its throat, and black mold growing inside animals' enclosures. Even visitors to the site are turning away feeling "more sad than anything" due to the visible signs of neglect and mistreatment, leading the website Tripadvisor to refuse to sell tickets for the Seaquarium.

All of this caused three veterinary technicians to resign recently, culminating in a fourth major resignation - this time from the site's only head veterinarian.

It's time for authorities to finally shut this facility down once and for all. Sign the petition now!

The Miami Seaquarium is almost 70 years old, making it one of the first such "entertainment" parks in which humans can watch captive wildlife be forced to perform, even before SeaWorld existed. Its tenure has been one marked by tragedy after tragedy.

In August 2023, Lolita the orca died at the facility after more than 50 years spent locked in their tiny enclosures. She'd been only 4 years old when humans captured her in the open oceans and ripped her away from her family, kidnapping her and forcing her into a life of servitude until the day she died. She'd been deathly ill for more than a year, and the Miami Seaquarium continued to pretend it would finally release her to a sea sanctuary, where she could have spent her final days in peace. But it never actually followed through.

All of this has led the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct investigations and cite the facility for failing to follow regulations under the Animal Welfare Act. Authorities have even forced the Seaquarium to release multiple animals to more humane facilities.

So the big question is: why is the Miami Seaquarium still allowed to operate at all?

Sign the petition to demand that federal officials immediately close down this abusive, neglectful park now!
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