In a recent press interview, SeaWorld’s CEO, Jim Atchison, said the park’s orcas have “great lives, full lives” and “enriching and socially well-adjusted lives.” One month earlier, SeaWorld’s senior veterinarian, Christopher Dodd, said, “I can unequivocally state that our whales are thriving, both mentally and physically.”
SeaWorld San Diego (photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)
By defending killer whale captivity, Atchison and Dodd, who are cementing shameful legacies for themselves, have chosen to dig in their heels instead of creating coastal sanctuaries where the orcas can be rehabilitated before potentially being released. Their focus on short-term profits is bad not only for the whales but also for the long-term prospects of SeaWorld, which could go out of business if it doesn’t adapt:
Happy ThanksKilling, SeaWorld. As you continue to mentally and physically kill your whale prisoners, members of the thinking public will continue to kill your extraordinarily cruel business.
People who exploit animals for profit or entertainment should know that animal rights protests come with the territory and are a cost of doing business. But instead arguing their point of view, exploiters often resort to vulgar personal attacks that validate the very argument that the activists are making — that they are abusive people.
Horse-drawn carriage driver in New York City
Personal attacks are quite common, but they’re rarely caught on camera. The few incidents that have been captured show the true colors of people who gratuitously exploit and abuse animals:
Fur vendor says, “Drop dead, you faggot. Get AIDS and die.”
Horse-drawn carriage driver says to Latina protesters, “What a whore you are. Are you a married woman with children, or are you barren? This one might have six or seven kids because, you know . . .”
A rodeo supporter in Canada says to a protester, “I like the color you are because it comes out of my ass. I will fucking blow your country up, you fucking shit-skinned goof.”
https://youtu.be/BXss9yuwZRQ
A horse-drawn carriage drivers says, “You are one of those faggots. I’m not into guys, man. I don’t fuck guys.”
In the early 1990s, the Ku Klux Klan conducted membership drives at pigeon shooting events. In a video highlighting some of the violent attacks against them, the animal rights group SHARK noted that “the kind of people who shoot pigeons tossed out of boxes are the perfect candidates for those hate organizations.”
KKK at pigeon shooting event
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Perhaps some animal exploiters employ personal attacks because they can’t argue on the merits of the issue. Activists, on the other hand, have the truth on our side. We should therefore stick to the issue and avoid the temptation to fight back with personal attacks in the heat of the moment.
It has all the trappings of a thriller, but, like The Cove, it’s a real-life documentary that exposes the plight of one of the planet’s most beloved and intelligent animals. The film is called Virunga, and the animals are the majestic mountain gorillas.
Photo: Virunga Movie
On one side, a British energy corporation called Soco bribes government officials in the war-torn Congo so that it can explore for oil in a protected national park called Virunga. On the other side are locals who risk – and often lose – their lives to protect the park, which is their lifeline. Caught in the crossfire are some of Africa’s last remaining mountain gorillas.
Because tourists are willing to spend hundreds of dollars a day to see them, gorillas, along with many other animals in the park, are a priceless renewable resource for the communities around Virunga. But Soco and the officials they bribe appear willing to destroy the park to make a quick buck off of a finite amount of oil.
Photo: WWF
Among the many extraordinarily people in the film is a French journalist, who, wearing a hidden camera, films Soco executives making bribes and threatening those who oppose oil exploration in the park. In a particularly jarring moment, a member of the British entourage said, “I can’t believe that people are protecting the park just for monkeys. Who cares about fucking monkeys?”
Photo: Joe McKenna
The world’s last 950 mountain gorillas live in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. In spite of sporadic civil unrest, gorilla tourism is returning to the Congo. And it is thriving in Rwanda and Uganda. In this video, wild gorillas wander onto the grounds of a tourist lodge in Uganda and give an unsuspecting guest the encounter of a lifetime.
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To find out how you can help save the remaining mountain gorillas, please visit Virunga Movie, which is now available on Netflix.
By observing the actions of adults, we are taught as children that animals exist to serve our needs and desires, not their own. Our sense of superiority to other animals is so ingrained that society gives virtually no thought at all to imprisoning them in zoos, labs and factory farms, thereby stripping them of the freedom that they instinctually desire just as much as we do.
Our behavior can best be described as speciesist. As a word and as a concept, speciesism is not yet a part of the public discourse. In an effort to help animals, however, social justice groups are working to change that, employing creative methods from provocative street theater to dramatic protests.
Launched just two months ago, a NYC-based organization called Collectively Free has been stopping people in their tracks with their “Swap Speciesism” events. At Meatopia, a carnivore festival where whole animals were cooked, Collectively Free turned the tables – and turned many heads – by serving samples from a whole human.
On the menu: Rack of Man, Human Chops
Wearing a pig mask, Kate Skwire, a Collectively Free performer, used humor to capture the attention of passing carnivores:
“You look like you’d like a piece, m’am. Are you hungry?”
“These are humanely raised, grass fed, local, happy humans.”
“Now tell me that isn’t delicious.”
“This one had a very good life. You don’t have to feel bad about eating this meat.”
The execution (of the event, not the human), was so creative that some Meatopia attendees stopped to give them props. Robert Jensen, one of the participants, said, “A few people said things like ‘I’m not vegetarian, but this is really creative.’ Others said, ‘that’s sick!’ to which we responded ‘it’s sick the other way around too.’ Then they became lost in thought.'”
Photo: Collectively Free
Another participant, Miriam Lucille, said, “I was holding a sign that says ‘Why love one but eat the other’ showing a dog and a pig, and one man looked at the sign, nodded and said, ‘That’s very true.'” A lot of people took photos because it was eye-catching, and that’s always a good thing.”
photo: Collectively Free
A San Francisco based group, Direct Action Everywhere, is also aiming to “Disrupt Speciesism” through dramatic and controversial actions inside of and in front of restaurants and grocery stores around the world. A video of one such protest not only went viral but also made national news. In the video, activist Kelly Atlas enters a restaurant and delivers an emotional account of her baby girl Snow, who is an injured chicken rescued from a battery cage.
https://youtu.be/LmfRMeU6pQ8
In 2013, filmmaker Mark Devries made made a critically-acclaimed documentary about the issue. In Speciesism: The Movie, Animal Liberation author Peter Singer sums it up nicely: “The fact that animals are not human isn’t a reason to give less consideration to their interests.”
Humans might be more powerful than other species, but we are far from superior. In fact, because we are the only species that is destroying the planet, some might argue that we are inferior.
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To learn more about and get involved in the provocative #DisruptSpeciesism and #SwapSpeciesism campaigns, please visit Direct Action Everywhere and Collectively Free.
Jane Velez-Mitchell, former host “Jane Velez-Mitchell” on HLN (Headline News Network), has created a new show dedicated to animal rights. On “Jane Unchained,” Velez-Mitchell, who has been America’s most prominent spokesperson for animal rights, reports on the day’s news with the same dedication and emotion that turned this TV news anchor into an icon in the animal rights movement.
Donny Moss from TheirTurn was lucky enough to a guest on her first two shows. On the first show, Velez-Mitchell and Moss discuss the impact of meat on the climate, the horse-drawn carriage fiasco in NYC and how a single issue can draw caring people into a cruelty-free lifestyle.
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