CEREAL KILLERS
On January 20, 2011, a devastating report regarding SeaWorld was submitted to The Orca Project in order to expose the numerous years of the whales’ mistreatment in SeaWorld. On March 6, 2015, through an online article, Nancy Colier exposed the circuses’ mistreatment of their animals to discourage people from attending a circus show.
SeaWorld is a marine mammal park that mistreats its animals through improper care. Due to the extremely small container tanks that the whales have to live in, the whales are constantly stressed out as they require a large environment to work in. Because of this accumulating amount of stress, there have been accidents when SeaWorld trainers were injured or killed. For example, former SeaWorld trainers Jeff Ventre and John Jett have reported that at least two SeaWorld workers died due to the stressed killer whales. Tilikum, a killer whale in SeaWorld, led to Dawn Brancheau’s death. Also, the killer whales do not have the needed amount of social interactions between other whales, and their constant undergo of training also increases their amount of stress. It has also been reported that SeaWorld does not provide adequate medical care for their whales. The proliferation of stress has caused the whales to show an increase in aggression towards humans and other whales. Some whales have also “bled out” due to self-inflicted injuries caused by their aggression.
Although some guests at SeaWorld may believe that the whales are under good conditions as they perform well in actual shows, this belief is far from reality. Behind the scenes, the aggravated whales are separated by steel bars. Bored or aggravated whales chew on the steel bars in hopes of freeing themselves, and as a result, their teeth break. Trainers could find the tooth fragments at the bottom of the whale’s container tank. “In the medical field it is known that poor dentition can lead to a host of diseases including valvular heart disease, gingivitis, pneumonia, stroke, and heart attack.” On October 4, 2010, Kalina, a deceased killer whale, died from harmful bacteria entering through her mouth. This harmful bacteria entered due to improper dental care and “steel bar chewing.” Wild orcas normally have their dorsal fins straightened out, but the ones in captivity have their fins gradually bent, an indication of SeaWorld’s improper care of whales.
Circuses and SeaWorld do not treat animals as well as zoos do because the former train them to do tricks, but most of the zoos try to protect the animals. Even though some circuses do not treat animals maliciously, most of the circuses are still terrible.
Circuses treat animals badly through such means as using a tool called bullhook, which is made for elephant torture.They also put them in a small cage for a long time. Even though animals are not humans, they still deserve rights. If circus animals are getting tortured, we should make new laws for them. Some people knows that circuses torture animals, but they do not care about the animals. They just want to see animals doing tricks. For example, tigers do not like being near fire, but circus trainers force tigers to jump into flaming hoops. In many incidents, elephants went
We decided to talk about the negative aspects of releasing animals to the wild from entertainment centers that torture animals for the sake of entertainment. At first, we really wanted entertainment centers, such as circuses and Sea World, to be banned because we did not like how the animals were treated. In general, we both like animals and we’ve all had pets before. When we see these animals being tortured and physically abused for the entertainment of the people, it emotionally affects us. However, as we continued researching about this controversial topic, we discovered that there are many different perspectives to this issue. As we took on the perspective of not banning entertainment centers that torture animals, we realized that animals should be released into the wild because they have a slim chance of survival. Animals are normally raised and “spoon-fed” by humans, not by their mothers. The employees give animals food, water, and shelter, without teaching them survival skills. Therefore, if animals were to be released in the wild, they would not be able to survive for themselves. Most animals that were released from places such as circuses or Sea World die in a short amount of time. Therefore, we would understand why some people would not want to ban circuses. However, we still believe that circuses should be banned because we do not agree with the physical abuse that the animals have to go through.
A ban should not be implemented because then wild animals would be exposed to the harsh environments and targeted by poachers. We researched further into the negative consequences of poaching and found astounding statistics. More than 100,000 African elephants have been captured and the rhino population have visibly decreased over the years. We realized that many people are not aware of these consequences. In our case, we were aware that poaching is a cruel activity; however, we were not aware of the extent of the cruelty behind poachers and their actions. This applies to numerous people around the world. Through the researching process of our issue, we have also become advocates of anti-poaching. But more importantly, advocates of an action that is harmful to animals who are innocent.
At camp, we had a lot of fun and also experienced many new challenges. Our group consisted of seven members and we had times where it was difficult to communicate with each other. However, we all had outgoing personalities and we felt very confident that we were striving to be one of the best groups. All of us have many different personalities which makes it difficult to pitch in ideas and agree on it, but our teamwork was better than expected. We were able to choose a topic that we liked and choose sides that we wanted to take on. It was an interesting experience, and we were really able to test our teamwork through this camp. We can agree that we all learned how to be like a leader. We learned many interesting, cool new things in regards to technology. We learned about editing and certain ways to create the website, and these techniques helped us gain knowledge about how to use our technology in the future. We learned in this camp that working with other people and trying to get out of comfort zone and experience unfamiliar activities will help us greatly in the future.
During the year of 2013, a retired Seaworld trainer named John Hargrove told the world what the corporate Seaworld was actually doing to their trainers and orcas. Orcas’ teeth were drilled, were starved, and were isolated from others of their kind.
Throughout Hargrove’s fourteen years of working as a trainer at Seaworld, he himself was mistreated as well as his orcas. His own painkiller addiction was produced from Seaworld’s abused Orcas kicking him with their tails. His eyes were often burned with chlorinated water, which caused deteriorating vision. “Seaworld has no soul,” said John Hargrove in the article “Former Seaworld Trainer reveals mistreatment of killer whales” (Kirby 1). Hargrove’s believes that Seaworld prioritises money and profits over animal care. John was asked why he stayed at Seaworld after being abused and watching his Orcas being abused. He replied that he loved these animals and that he believed that he could help them. There was an incident with a Seaworld Shamu trainer named Dawn Brancheau where she was drowned in the pool by her own Orca while performing. These incidents can be called murders because they are a result of corporate Seaworld’s negligence. The techniques of starving and isolating the species causes Orcas like Tilikum to feel betrayed and even kill friend, Dawn Brancheau. It has been shown throughout history that when a human is isolated for a long time, he or she will go crazy. What Seaworld isn’t noticing is that these animals are highly intelligent and not just assets, marketing, and investments. The worst part about it is that Seaworld shuts up the trainers and the public doesn’t even know about it. Hargrove was threatened multiple times by Seaworld, but with a great team of lawyers and an understanding of the first amendment, Hargrove has been freely speaking out against Seaworld.
John explains his deep relationships with some orcas like Takara. “I loved her mother, Kasatka, very much,” he says in an interview with National Geographic. He also talks about how he made a Tilikum drowned and behead Dawn Brancheau, “we’ll never know why Tilikum made that choice to drag Dawn into the pool.” He explains that Tilly and Dawn had a great relationship and that it was a shock to all the trainers and that even when he had killed her, he would not let go of the body of his old friend until ACU had to forcibly take the body.
John Hargrove now works in a foundation against marine animal cruelty.
Orcas at SeaWorld spend most of their time floating listlessly at the surface of the water with little to no shade from the hot blistering sun. In the wild, orcas spend up to 95 percent of their time submerged and would find shade in the depths of the ocean, but at SeaWorld their tanks are far too shallow. Their deepest tank is 40 feet deep not nearly deep enough to give them a reprieve from the harsh elements. Because of this, orcas have perpetual sunburns, which are shielded from the public eye with the help of black zinc oxide, which matches their skin. Although zinc oxide is also used as a sunblock, orcas almost always have sunburns before it is applied. Five orcas currently at Seaworld were kidnapped from their ocean homes, as were others who have since died. For example, Tilikum, a 32-year-old orca, was captured at the age of 2 by a marine “cowboy.” Tilikum wasn’t taken from his natural environment because he was injured—instead, he was torn away from his family against his will and confined to a small concrete tank for a hefty profit. In 1965, the first-ever orca show at SeaWorld was performed by a female orca named Shamu at SeaWorld San Diego. During Shamu’s capture, her mother was shot with a harpoon and killed before the young orca’s very eyes by a marine “cowboy” named Ted Griffin. Griffin’s partner, Don Goldsberry, later worked for SeaWorld and was assigned to bring orcas into the park. He continued kidnapping and slaughtering orcas, and at one point, he hired divers to slit open the bellies of four orcas, fill them with rocks, put anchors around their tails, and sink them to the bottom of the ocean so that their deaths would not be discovered. In nature, orcas choose their own mates. But at SeaWorld, orcas are forced to breed on a regular basis. Male orcas are trained to float on their backs, and their trainers masturbate them to collect their sperm. Females are artificially inseminated and forced to breed at a much younger age than they would in nature. Katina was forced to breed when she was only 9 years old (at least five years earlier than she would have naturally bred in the wild). Now she is used as a virtual breeding machine and is even being inbred with her own sons.
Argument: There should be no ban on torturous training in places full of entertainment because of controversial poaching issues.
Simon Jones, founder of Helping Rhinos, a nonprofit organization dedicated to opposing rhino poaching, stated, "Not so long ago, people would go for drinks, and drive back home. Now people don't and it's not because they don't want to, it's because they're afraid of the consequences. We need the same thing to happen with poaching," during an interview with ABC News. Poaching is defined as the illegal practice of hunting game on another’s property without permission. This illegal activity has stirred controversy for many decades and ultimately, poaching negatively affects both the animals and their surroundings.
The debate about whether poaching activities are acceptable have been present since the 1990s. According to the Telegraph, South Africa and its wild inhabitants have been targets for many years. Elephant populations have been visibly affected due to the high demand for their ivory tusks. According to Brad Scriber, a reporter for National Geographic, 100,000 elephants have been killed in the last three years. Although conjectured, scientists have estimated an overall 64 percent decrease in the African elephant population. Rhinoceros in Africa have been a main target among poachers also. With a current population of about 25,000, almost 900 rhinos have been hunted while already 181 rhinos have been killed at the beginning of this year. Advocates of anti-poaching have shown concern for these wild animals who are gradually headed toward endangerment.
Although these statistics may sound discouraging, fortunately, many organizations have sought help and actively shown support for anti-poaching. The Humane Society of the United States, have hosted numerous campaigns such as “Protect Wildlife” and “Chimps Deserve Better” while the Save the Rhino organization have updated their websites asking for donations. Advocates of these organizations have worked hard to raise awareness of the dangers and dire consequences of poaching.
Poaching has proven to be cruel and vial. The ivory tusks hunted down by hunters are obtained through various weapons such as darts, poison, and highly advanced guns. In addition, known for their beneficial purposes in ornamental and medicinal purposes, rhinos’ horns are detached in a painful process of de-horning. Hunters simply hunt them (through wounding or killing) and remove their horns. According to the Save the Rhino organization, hunters do not restrain even if the rhinos are hornless. Hunters also value the stub of horn which is left after removal while some are hunted due to the vengeance of hunters. Wild animals should not be hunted and taken advantage of for their natural body parts. These animals are defenseless against high-tech weaponry and tricky tactics humans use.
Interestingly enough, poaching affects the human population too. According to Dictionary.com, poaching is defined as “the illegal practice of trespassing on another's property to hunt or steal game without the landowner's permission.” Since some other person’s property is trespassed, this also counts as violating his privacy. The natural resources of their land, such as the grass and maybe even farm animals, are damaged and used without the owner’s consent.
Regardless of what side or opinion one has about the idea of poaching, people should realize that not only are animals affected but also humans: those who own land near regions full of animals. Poaching is not only morally wrong but also a violation of humans’ rights. Even though many organizations are working hard to better the situation, more help should be directed toward these groups and issues. If an improved change goes toward this cause, the declining populations of endangered animals, such as the innocent African elephants and rhinos, will stabilize. Better yet, the abusive relationship between the endangered animals and ruthless hunters may disappear.