Federal Judge Dismisses PETA Lawsuit Claiming SeaWorld Whales Are Slaves

February 9, 2012 10:45 AM

Killer whale “Tilikum” appears during its performance in its show “Believe” in Sea World on March 30, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. (credit: Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

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13th amendment, lawsuit, PETA, SeaWorld, slaves, whales

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An effort to free whales from SeaWorld by claiming they were enslaved made a splash in the news but flopped in court Wednesday.

A federal judge in San Diego dismissed an unprecedented lawsuit seeking to grant constitutional protection against slavery to a group of orcas that perform at SeaWorld parks, saying the 13th amendment applies only to humans.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller stopped the case from proceeding two days after he became the first judge in U.S. history to listen to arguments in court over the possibility of granting constitutional rights for members of an animal species.

“As ‘slavery’ and ‘involuntary servitude’ are uniquely human activities, as those terms have been historically and contemporaneously applied, there is simply no basis to construe the Thirteenth Amendment as applying to non-humans,” Miller wrote in his ruling.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed the lawsuit in October and named five whales as plaintiffs. PETA says the wild-captured orcas are enslaved by SeaWorld because they are held in concrete tanks against their will and forced to perform in shows at its parks in San Diego and Orlando, Fla.

SeaWorld called the lawsuit baseless and a waste of the court’s time and money.

“We cannot hope that this is PETA’s last publicity stunt but we can now refocus our energy in more positive and constructive ways: delivering high quality education experiences to our guests and providing the highest possible standard of care to our animals,” spokesman Dave Koontz wrote in a statement.

Legal experts say it opened an interesting debate about the expansion of animal rights.

PETA attorney Jeffrey Kerr says his organization does not plan to give up the fight to protect the orcas, but he did not specify the next action.

PETA is known for its provocative anti-fur and pro-vegan campaigns to engage the court of public opinion.

“Today’s decision does not change the fact that the orcas who once lived naturally wild and free, are today kept as slaves by SeaWorld,” Kerr said in a statement. “PETA will regroup and determine how to continue to work for the legal protection they deserve.”

SeaWorld denies any mistreatment of the animals and says its parks have raised awareness that has helped conservation efforts. It also says it has rescued orcas injured in the wild.

Federal Judge Dismisses PETA Lawsuit Claiming SeaWorld Whales Are Slaves

robert g

Make peta pay all the court and legal cost x100.

Jewfromhell

Peta is a bunch of commie slime!

Ryan

OMG WHALES AREN’T SLAVES!?!?!

All you can do is prepare yourself for the decline of America and pray to God it doesn’t happen.

http://www.postapocalypticsurvival.com/2012/01/post-apocalyptic-survival-gear-list.html
Welcome Black Carter

Glad this is over. I ran over a frog this morning… just knew I would end up in court over it.

Barry the Fascist

Unfortunately the government covers all PETA court costs with OUR $$$.
JByrd42

I am sick and tired of PETA. I do love animals but these kooks push any rational thinking American away.

LTCB

I suppose they think the horse they rode in on needs “freed” also? Sick puppies all.
Ansari

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Who Cares

They will collect more money from their followers and appeal to the 9th district court, and will have a much better chance of wining there. If they do next is horse racing,
then the circus, pet ownership and finally the end game all meat, poultry and fish. Vegan here we come!
jpbrody

Yep!
Arch your back baby

The only thing PETA is good for is as an outlet for hot chicks to take off their clothes.
Ray

Amen bro. Also jail the lawyers for contempt.
James

PETA members should be able to use insanity as a plea for any crimes they might commit. Clearly these wackos just aren’t all there.

Dad

Midge, cows are as intelligent as whales, but taste better.

Neocommie whacknuts like you should be put on display for normal folks to see and laugh at.

Casper

They have with their posts.

dc

Midge…. wake up and smell the coffee already. Where would this fiasco stop?

Would people not be able to own pets next? no horses? no dogs/ no cats?

how about snakes, hampsters, gerbils… the list could go on and on.

The first time I see a “highly intelligent mammal as whales” do anything other than swim in the ocean… I will get behind PETA…. but what pray tell… do they do… that makes you think they are advanced in their intelligence?

venice

Trying to explain advanced subjects to a low grade moron as you is not my job. Obviously you are a product of the public schools, watch TV hours everyday and probably go to Hollywood movies. Ipso facto, you are the lower life form and about as contemplative as a door stop.

Jim

My, my, such hate and discontent from a pea-brained liberal. But what is one to expect?
Spetsnatz

@jim Not a liberal jim, in fact you’re so fricking uneducated that you have no idea about anything. You on the other hand probably went to public schools, watch TV and I bet you go to Hollywood movies. The definition of liberal is not the one that TV watching idiots as you think. It actually was the same word for book and has nothing to do with your distorted, uniformed opinion. Go look up the real definition … if you can really read.
jncarlos007

@spetsnatz- Hi, I am, spetnutz, a college freshman who just discovered that the word liberal has been used before by other societies so, in my petulant college freshman way, I am going to mock and deride you for using it in the traditional American connotation, because that will serve my desire to both denigrate someone else and prove myself the superior intellect. Unfortunatley, because I am really only mentally 5 years old I will only end up making myself look petty, vulgar, and ignorant.
Oh, I will also make fun of the public school system, even though they have been controlled by liberals for the past 40 years.

LTCB

Don’t you know they’re “intelligent” because they can “communicate”? That’s the lie anyway. Fact is, most EVERYTHING that is alive has a means of commuication. That includes single celled animals. So, stop stepping on my firends. Stop breathing in my friends. We’re trying to communicate here. (have you sensed the sarcasm yet?) Bottom line is, all the commenters to you are pretty much challenged mentally and do not understand much. Cows communicate, monkeys communicate, mice communicate, and the list goes on. God gave us this place to live in and to subdue. Not necessarily to exploit but, to head cheese (below Him). Just because something is living, it does not mean that it should be “free”. How would you PETA types like a lion wandering your house and eating on the kids? Don’t want the kids anyway? Well, how about if it ate “fluffy”? Bottom line is man is to dominate, not exploit, nature. I’ll agree we don’t need to be erradicating species intentionally. But, don’t get wrapped up around the axle if something “dies off”. Science often finds out, years later, that it didn’t REALLY die off. It just started hiding better.

Carl Parsons

PETA needs to be treated as a domestic terrorist group, jailed and put away for life. The more we let these terrorists have access to our courts, the more resources they will take up.

Carl Parsons

Furthermore, by freezing thier assets, and the assets of their membership, we could use their money to pay down on the deficit. A win-win.
LTCB

I would have to agree. They’re seriously more of a “terrorist group” then are Christians or conservatives but, both are labled by DHS as “terrorists”. How about we start calling the real terrorists by their name, “TERRORIST”?

Rick Gamache

This was less about saving whales are more about setting precedent. Making use of a high-functioning mammal, Peta felt it could get support for their side. It goes like this; First a whale, then horses, then dogs, cats, etc. Before you know it, we have publicly payed universal healthcare for all domesticated animals.

That said,I’m boycotting PETA until they stop their discriminative practices and hire a dog as their CEO.

Momofthree

Ummm, orcas are dolphins NOT whales. I think everyone here needs to do research and stop listening to what the lame stream medi areports!

Casper

Semantics.
Jay

Ummm, actually, dolphins are a subcategory of a subcategory of a whale. This makes all dolphins whales. Maybe YOU should do some research.

dn

So if this would have stood then wouldn’t PETA need to be tried for genocide and crimes aganst humanity? They are the ones that always push for the mandatory sterilization of dogs and cats. Using this logic then the dog or cat would have to give consent before they could be spay or neutered.

Erick Blair

Pretty funny. But the People Eating Tasty Animals will be annoyed.
Phil-351

It’s also called ‘Eugenics’, and being pushed by the UN and some very wealthy American liberals, like Ted Turner under the cover of over-population control.

Hazmat77

Turner is a typical cattleman … he just wants to improve the breed.

Hazmat77

Not only is your logic spot (no pun intended) on, but how did PETA discover that the Five Whale plaintiffs were being held against their will?

PETA is a frivolous organization and they prove it with frivolous law suits … Time for the IRS to revoke their charitable status.

Michael Baram

“but how did PETA discover that the Five Whale plaintiffs were being held against their will? ”

Seems one of the orcas managed to smuggle a note out between two license plates. At least that’s what Flipper told me.

Not Sure

Carl Parsons got it right. Well done sir.
Factchecker

Ridiculous waste of time – 60s hippies still trying to save the whales….get a life.

whodat1

Save The Whales – Collect the entire set!

Free Willy

People Eating Tasty Animals
jimmy coomer

Kill the unborn babies and save the whales and sea cows. What a bunch of sickos.
7train1

Hi Midge! Remember, you cant hug your children with nuclear arms!!!!! Did you accidentally make yourself high; poking yourself with a needle while darning your hemp socks?
exbobbie

Thank God this took place in San Diego and not San Francisco, those loony toon morons would have ruled in favor of PETA. This is another example of why many of us in Southern California want to split the State into Northern CA and Southeastern CA, the split starting at Los Angeles and up, you see,the majority of sane conservative people live to the East and South of LA. Not all of California and Californians are whacked out loony lefties.

Hazmat77

Why not just petition to give San Diego County to Mexico?

http://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/peta-argues-13th-amendment-is-not-limited-to-humans/ PETA Argues 13th Amendment Is Not Limited To Humans « Virginia Virtucon

[...] Really? REALLY? PETA tried to say that Shamu’s rights under the 13th Amendment are being denied and that he and his brethren are slaves? [...]
Libertarian Bass

Sad part of all this is Peta has wasted Seaworld’s money. Seaworld uses that money, in part, to help wildlife. Seaworld has done more to help whales, wildlife and conservation than Peta ever has or will. Just Google ‘Peta kills dogs’. Just as typical libs believe abortion is somehow a humane form of birth control, Peta believes killing tens of thousands of dogs is somehow ‘The Ethical Treatment of Animals’. A crock of typical convoluted left-think, which is equivalent to a crock of something else…
ILikeRush

This should have never made it to court. This is one of the things in this country that is broken.
John Clark

This story is incomplete without details of the lawyer’s billable hours and fees. After all, we who donate to PETA do not wish to see our dollars go out the back door of the charity and into the back pockets of lawyers.
Bob A

Our country would be much better off if we deported all PETA members. Its time to track down these fringe radicals and start protesting in front of their houses.
StevePA

So if whales are slaves, then what are unborn babies? This group makes me sick. They don’t give two hoots about these animals. They demand everyone else follow their ridiculous demands while the same guidelines don’t apply to them. They are a bunch of selfish, disgruntled, angry and bitter people who just want to pass their misery on to everyone else. The whales in Sea World are far happier than any of these PETA whackos are, and they are free!
LOBSTERMAN

I don’t care what the PETA strategy is, here, nor do I care. The fact is this is nothing more than a gross example of a frivolous lawsuit. It not only wastes valuable time and finacial resources, but mocks our nation and it’s system of laws.

With our nation drowning in debt and huge problems, the last thing the people need is such trivial and.s wasteful nonsense! What should follow is a punitive financial ruling against PETA that would serve as a message to it and others who engage in such frivolity.
Charles

What I find sad is that PETA isn’t trying to demonstrate how smart some animals can be, they’re just showing how stupid some humans can be.
NYCwhalelover

These whales are treated like slaves and should be freed.

Momofthree

Theyare not even whales. Orcas are dolphins. Understand this beore you jump on a bandwagon you know nothing about!
Casper

Not what the judge said.

Bubba Johnson

ANd who picks up the tab for this nonsense? Can you say “Taxpayers”? Sure you can.
http://www.motownsports.com/forums/political-discussions/96070-political-hodgepodge-thread-2.html#post2676351 The Political Hodgepodge Thread! – Page 2

[...] [...]
OklahomaBound

I could use some whale oil for my lamps so I’m prepared for Obama’s “necessarily skyrocketing electricity rates.”

Fred Zarguna

The decaying plant matter used to make coal comes from “pre-enslaved stationary life forms.” Thank The One, or you’d be hearing from PETAL (People for the Ethical Treatment of All Life) very soon.

Momofthree

Orcas are not whales! They are dolphins. Boy we have a bunch of intelligent PETA morons and judges. Kind of like how everyone calls the USA a democracy when we are a Republic ( thank Goodness our founding fathers were intelligent enough to do that).