Imagine if someone stood on your mouth with their full bodyweight and rode you as though you were a surfboard. This nightmare is an everyday reality for dolphins at SeaWorld Orlando, as demonstrated in the photographs below, taken on July 26.
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The first five photos show open wounds or scarring (or both) on dolphins’ lower jaws, while photos six through eight demonstrate how dolphins at SeaWorld abusement parks are used to perform circus-style tricks, which could cause them further injury.
PETA Won’t Stand for Such Abuse
Armed with this damning photographic evidence, we sent an urgent letter calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate the facility for apparent violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
Dolphins will continue to incur physical and emotional scars as long as they’re being used as surfboards, trainers are standing on their faces in sea circus shows, and they’re held in SeaWorld’s tanks. Authorities must investigate SeaWorld Orlando for holding these animals in conditions that result in injury and for callously continuing to exploit them despite their wounds.
It’s Not Just an Orlando Thing
Our letter to the USDA comes just one month after we shared a veterinary report finding that dolphins at all three SeaWorld parks had open wounds and extensive scarring on their faces and bodies. The tricks that dolphins are forced to perform by SeaWorld trainers can potentially damage their hearing, strain muscles and joints, and exacerbate the injuries caused by confinement to cramped tanks.
Join Us in Demanding Better for Animals
We’re putting pressure on the USDA to do its job, but we need your help in appealing directly to SeaWorld. Click below to push for all captive marine animals to be retired from the company’s parks and sent to protected sea sanctuaries where they can live a semblance of the life that was stolen from them.
