{"id":744,"date":"2015-07-30T01:12:54","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T06:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/?p=744"},"modified":"2015-08-01T23:44:56","modified_gmt":"2015-08-02T04:44:56","slug":"an-open-letter-from-seaworlds-animal-advocates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/2015\/07\/30\/an-open-letter-from-seaworlds-animal-advocates\/","title":{"rendered":"“An Open Letter from SeaWorld’s Animal Advocates”"},"content":{"rendered":"

SeaWorld. An Open Letter from SeaWorld\u2019s Animal Advocates [web log post]. SeaWorld. Retrieved from http:\/\/seaworldcares.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Engish_Letter.pdf?from=Top_Nav<\/a><\/p>\n

SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment has repeatedly been accused of mistreating its animals that are held in captivity, specifically its killer whales. In this open letter, SeaWorld addresses these accusations and insists that the animals that are under SeaWorld\u2019s care are receiving the necessary attention they need and deserve.<\/p>\n

I personally do not believe that SeaWorld is a credible source in determining the mistreatment of killer whales in captivity. SeaWorld claims that its men and women are \u201canimal advocates,\u201d but at the end of the day, with ticket sales decreasing in response to the constant criticism, SeaWorld will do just about anything it takes to bring back the park\u2019s seasonal customers, even if it requires the occasional bending of the truth to manipulate newcomers into visiting their park. Although the SeaWorld company seems to be a credible source when referring to marine animals, the key points that SeaWorld addresses in its letter do not prove to be credible or well-researched. SeaWorld argues that their company places its animals\u2019 health and safety above all else. However, they lack proper evidence to support their claims that say they care for their animals more than the money their parks bring in.<\/p>\n

Recent reports have criticized SeaWorld and its mistreatment of animals, especially its killer whales. This open letter was a way \u201cto set the record straight,\u201d claims SeaWorld. SeaWorld then goes on to list six different facts that have stirred up controversy against their company.<\/p>\n

The first fact states that \u201cSeaWorld does not capture killer whales in the wild.\u201d SeaWorld claims that they have not collected a killer whale from the wild for the past 35 years.<\/p>\n

Fact number two explains that SeaWorld values the bond between a mother and her calf and claims that the trainers will hand raise the calf in the event that the mother cannot care for it herself. \u201cWe do not separate killer whale moms and calves,\u201d SeaWorld urges, except when needed to maintain a \u201chealthy social structure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fact number three: SeaWorld claims to invest millions of dollars in its whales. The company insists that their money go toward \u201cstate-of-the-art, multimillion-gallon environments of cooled and filtered water\u201d to ensure their animals\u2019 health and safety.<\/p>\n

Fact number four: \u201cSeaWorld\u2019s killer whales\u2019 life spans are equivalent with those in the wild.\u201d SeaWorld suggests that recent studies show that the life spans of their killer whales are comparable to the life spans of the killer whales in the wild.<\/p>\n

Fact number five claims that \u201cThe killer whales in [SeaWorld\u2019s] care benefit those in the wild.\u201d According to SeaWorld, this is because they collaborate with \u201cuniversities, governmental agencies and NGOs to increase the body of knowledge about and the understanding of killer whales.\u201d<\/p>\n

As stated in fact number six, \u201cSeaWorld is a world leader in animal rescue.\u201d SeaWorld states that their team is always on call and prepared to provide animals with the best veterinary care possible. SeaWorld claims to have rescued more than 25,000 animals and\u00a0ultimately treat and return them to the wild.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth about SeaWorld is right here in our parks and people,\u201d SeaWorld says to convince us that they are indeed telling the truth.\u00a0SeaWorld concludes this open letter with stating that they want to provide a lasting impact on their customers and have them gain a greater sense of appreciation for the sea and its life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SeaWorld. An Open Letter from SeaWorld\u2019s Animal Advocates [web log post]. SeaWorld. Retrieved from http:\/\/seaworldcares.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Engish_Letter.pdf?from=Top_Nav SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment has repeatedly been accused of mistreating its animals that are held in captivity, specifically its killer whales. In this open letter, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rs-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":745,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744\/revisions\/745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/rhes306\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}