A Cry For Help!

I am breaking my normal pattern of posting every 3-4 days by issuing this urgent cry today to the readers of my blog in the United States. The House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife is currently reviewing the Marine Mammal Protection Act’s provisions for the public display of whales and dolphins, and they welcome public comments until this Friday, May 7th. Please add your voice to those calling for an end to the spectacular cruelty being inflicted upon whales and dolphins at marine parks and aquariums. The captive display of orcas and bottlenose dolphins at the Sea World parks, and beluga whales and white-sided dolphins at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, to name just a few examples, cannot be justified no matter how hard their owners and management try to spin it. Their care and concern for their captives is purely mercenary, and their claim that they are educating the public is both ridiculous and disingenuous. Making a wild animal perform stupid and demeaning tricks that they never do in their natural habitat is hardly a proper education for children. And sentencing these intelligent and sentient beings to a shortened life of mindless boredom and unknowable torment is cruel and despicable.
Here is how you can help: between today and this Friday, May 7th, please email Ms. Katherine Romans, the clerk of the subcommittee hearing (at the address below), and tell her you do not support the continuation of these performance spectacles that serve strictly for audience amusement and park owner profit. Here is your chance to do something noble and decent in a world where these qualities are so sadly lacking. Please act now!
katherine.romans@mail.house.gov/