A recently discovered court document filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice reveals that SeaWorld's trainers give their orcas the psychoactive drug benzodiazepine, which includes the medications Valium and Xanax.
The document states that trainers administered these drugs to "mellow" orcas to "take pressure" off them when kept in unnaturally close quarters with other orcas. The ultimate goal is to make trainers' lives easier when forcing these animals to live in confinement and perform tricks to entertain SeaWorld clientele.
The misery orcas endure in captivity is well documented. Living in confinement frustrates these intelligent animals, causing them to self-mutilate, attack their trainers and lash out against audience members. Several trainers have been killed by stressed out orcas.
Giving orcas drugs to force them to live and perform in an unnatural way is unethical. Please sign the petition to urge Jim Atchison to ban the practice of giving orcas drugs at SeaWorld!
As you know, a recently discovered court document filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice reveals that SeaWorld's trainers give their orcas the psychoactive drug benzodiazepine, which includes the medications Valium and Xanax.
The document states that trainers administered these drugs to "mellow" orcas to "take pressure" off them when kept in unnaturally close quarters with other orcas. The ultimate goal is to make trainers' lives easier when forcing these animals to live in confinement and perform tricks to entertain SeaWorld clientele.
The misery orcas endure in captivity is well documented. Living in confinement frustrates these intelligent animals, causing them to self-mutilate, attack their trainers and lash out against audience members. Several trainers have been killed by stressed out orcas.
We believe that giving orcas drugs to force them to live and perform in an unnatural way is unethical. We urge you to ban the practice of giving orcas drugs at SeaWorld. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our petition.
