I would bet the entertainment division of SeaWorld is heavily subsidizing the scientific/research side of the business. Better than them using our tax dollars. And these people who work with these animals L O V E their jobs and love these animals probably more than the animal-rights activists do. The trainers and scientists at SeaWorld didn’t learn their profession from brochures and emotional videos at PETA Inc.
Absolutely animals in captivity need to be treated humanely and with great care and respect. But animals, as intelligent as some may be, have never found a cure for disease, written a thesis at a university, formed a government, or posted a video on YouTube. When animals figure out a way to do that we can assign them human rights and give them a seat at the conference table.
Why are we surprised that a predatory animal acted like a predator? Am I missing something to the story?
No one wants to have a horrible death happen such as this, but is this rocket science?