Posted on 02/27/2010 9:14:01 AM PST by JoeProBono
This was a question asked of the CNN audience by Wolf Blitzer Thursday afternoon--the day after an experienced trainer, 40 year old Dawn Brancheau, was killed in a tragic accident by an orca whale at the Orlando SeaWorld Park.
The response to the polling question, “should animals be used for human entertainment”--was answered predominately “no.”
One person wrote of how he was mesmerized by a show at the aquarium, when he was a small boy. Then later, as an adult, he saw a similar show, with dolphins and whales and he felt physically ill for the animals and the life they were forced to live.
Another e-mail respondent told his account of a homeless man, who managed to get into the polar bear enclosure in his home town zoo. The bear mauled him to death. Afterward, the police shot the bear, who was innocently minding his own business and did not ask for a strange man to inter his domain.
One lady said SeaWorld was all about money and greed. The aquarium owners were trying to say that having whales in captivity was all about research. She once saw a trainer surfboarding on a whale’s back and said it didn’t look like research to her. She felt sorry for the family of the trainer, but felt sorrier for the whale.
The fact is SeaWorld and other aquariums and theme parks build their entire brand around the performance of whales, dolphins, and other aquatic life. If they lose their performers, they lose their revenue.
Similarly, the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas built their entire brand around the magicians, Siegfried and Roy, and their Royal white tigers. Unfortunately, in the fall of 2003, in one of the most widely publicized performing animal attacks, a white tiger bit Roy Horn during their show.
Evidently, the tiger named Montecore, had been distracted by a woman in the front row of the audience and bit Roy’s arm, when he moved between the two. Roy shouted “release, release” and hit the tiger on the nose with his microphone. But when Roy was released, he tripped over the cat’s paw and fell. Stage hands further confused the cat, when they rushed the stage to intervene. Suddenly, Montecore picked Roy up by the neck, much like a cat would pick up its kitten, and hauled him back stage. Fire extinguishers had to be used to separate the two.
Horn was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent surgery on his head. Later, he spent many months recuperating from his injuries and a stroke he had suffered during the ordeal.....
Why...do you think the whales are unhappy.
Of course not!
They should be free to wander wherever they like and eat us if they so desire.
Yes.
amen...one or two voices of reason
I don’t mean to offend anyone but FR is notorious as a refuge for older folks who love their pets like more than anything(i’m 52 and like mine too) and I think some here get carried away with animal sentiment.
Should humans be used for animal entertainment?
Sure, but the carniverous ones should be fed enviornmentalists for every meal.
I have sympathy for the dead woman, but I have sympathy for wild animals kept in small enclosures too. I am not a PETA member but I detest zoos. I realize that most all of the animals in zoos have been born there but more care should be taken to give them more space and no wild born animals should be allowed to be taken to zoos.
Dogs have been domesticated for so long that they cannot be compared to lions, bears and whales kept in captivity.
“Should wild animals be held in captivity for human entertainment?”
No, they should be hunted and eaten.
NO!
To cook a killer whale; think of the amount of charcoal you would need, 100's of gallons of BBQ sauce... I am up to the challenge.
Should wild animals be held in captivity for human entertainment? We have done it for years we call them congress and senate.
When I was stationed at Lewis in Wash. state in the 80s, I went to some Tacoma shopping center I think it was, and there was a gorilla on display that had been there since about the 60s or something. It just seemed sad, somehow. Long time to sit in a cage and look at shoppers, jeez.
There was an elephant named Ziggy that was thought to have tried to kill its trainer that spent 30 years in solitary confinement in a single room made for it at the Brooklyn Zoo in Chicago........I can't think of anything more horrible for a social animal such as that.
And here we have it. A reversion to potty humor.
You are pretty much the protypical Sierra Club / Greenpeace seminar debater, crippleceek.
When reqired to defend an your assertions you make a little scatological quip and slink off.
Prety much as expected.
I used to think so. However, in today’s world...there are so many avenues in which we can view wild animals, sea creatures etc. Not sure we should keep them in captivity. We have film, movies, TV all kinds of ways to see and learn about God’s creatures.
The whale that killed the trainer to me is innocent. If he saw her pony tail and it was moving...perhaps he was just acting on instinct and reached up for it. How does a whale know a human cannot breathe under water without drowning? If you look at him in the tank or swimming with the other whales...he is going about his business in a carefree way because he DOES NOT KNOW HE JUST KILLED A HUMAN BEING!!!!
I’m sure the trainer would speak out on behalf of the whale she loved. At any rate...maybe we have reached a point in our society where we no longer need this kind of so called entertainment from those in captivity. They should be free and in their own element as was intended.
And there ya go. I agree wholeheartedly.
A retired seeing eye lab is my best friend
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