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Ingrid Newkirk, who is president of PETA, wrote about the death of SeaWorld’s commonly known orca named Tilikum. Tilikum has suffered from the acts of animal abuse in ways of containment, entertainment, and sexual harassment.
Tilikum was one of SeaWorld’s famous orcas that died over a year ago and actually became free in the process. At a very young age, Tilikum was separated from his pod and lost all ability of communicating, seeing and hearing his family after being kidnapped and sold to the amusement park.
He was kept there for 30 years and is famously known as the main figure in the documentary, Blackfish. In his duration of life at Seaworld, he had no choice but to live in a very small and in an enclosed tank. This was a very unnatural state for him which caused aggression in his behavior. Tilikum was already in a tank with other aggressive orcas that were unsuited for his characteristics and left him with several injuries.
These injuries took a toll on him and caused major stress and resulted in destructive actions. One particular action was the death of three people one being his own trainer Dawn Brancheau. He also caused damage to his own teeth by chewing the metal bars that enclosed him.
In his training, Tilikum had a certain eating selection and had to participate in what they asked of him. In addition, he was trained to move onto his side, where the marine workers would then sexually abuse him in terms of stimulation, so they could collect his semen.
Seaworld used him as the prime donor for the breeding program and his offspring are now the new entertainment. This is contradicting for Seaworld because they originally stated that the orca breeding program was over, however Tilikum was still bred 21 times after this, with eleven dying before him and 10 as performers. Although Tilikum has died in an environment where he was unfit for living, there is still a lesson to learn from his freedom. The other species of marine life at Seaworld and his 10 surviving offspring should be rehabilitated and released back to nature or in an eco-friendly environment where they would be cared for properly.
Being President and co-founder of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk deserves full accreditation for writing this article on SeaWorld’s animal abuse concerning Tilikum. PETA is an acronym with a strong meaning of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Newkirk created this organization over 35 years ago and is now the world’s largest animal rights group. Newkirk has had the opportunity to enlighten the people of animal rights issues all over the world spanning from the Canadian Parliament to our very own U.S Congress.
As a researcher, who is very interested in the lives outside of the human race, this information is very significant in learning how there are two sides to view in every issue. This topic specifically focused on how animal abuse is unaware to the people who expect entertainment versus learning opportunities. However, this article was very biased as in terms of opinions but is totally understandable in situations like these. Scientists who are known for their great discoveries and organizations are allowed to have opinions toward certain things as long as they do not express them in their works that could steer someone in the wrong direction. This is why viewing each side is important to verify the validity of certain issues.
Ingrid Newkirk About Animal Cruelty. (2022, Apr 30). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/ingrid-newkirk-about-animal-cruelty-essay
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