Latest SeaWorld lawsuit demands park end 'false statements' on orca welfare
Third lawsuit in three weeks is not demanding visitor refunds –
instead, plaintiffs ‘want to force SeaWorld to tell the truth’ in killer
whale marketing.
SeaWorld has been hit with another class action lawsuit accusing the aquatic theme park company of misleading the public when it insists its captive, performing killer whales are happy and healthy.
Unlike in two recent lawsuits, the plaintiffs in the latest legal action in California are not demanding that SeaWorld reimburse millions of visitors for the price of their tickets but that the company simply be forced to “cease making false statements” about the welfare of its giant mammals.
The environmental advocacy and research group Earth Island Institute, based in Berkeley, California, is advising the legal team representing the plaintiffs.
“We want to force SeaWorld to tell the truth,” Mark Palmer, assistant director of the Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project, told the Guardian.
Two members of the public who have visited the SeaWorld park in San Diego are the named plaintiffs: Mark Anderson and Ellexa Conway, from San Francisco.
But Palmer said the institute was the driving force behind the lawsuit and sought out the individual plaintiffs to represent the class action on behalf of members of the public.
The lawsuit demands that SeaWorld refute marketing statements that whales at its parks are thriving.
SeaWorld declined to issue a fresh statement in response to the latest lawsuit and said an earlier statement applied, which called the accusations baseless and said SeaWorld intends to defend itself “against these inaccurate claims”. The company vigorously denies the allegations in the lawsuits and points out that its parks are regularly inspected by the US government.
The institute ultimately wants SeaWorld to be compelled to cease running “a whale circus”, Palmer said, and stop captive breeding programs, instead allowing its orcas to retire to large sea pens and live out the rest of their lives being fed and tended to by SeaWorld trainers and veterinarians, he said.
“We hope the courts order SeaWorld to tell the truth about orcas in captivity,” Palmer told the Guardian.
The lawsuit, filed in California superior court in San Francisco on Tuesday, seeks a court order requiring SeaWorld “to cease making false statements about the health and welfare of the orcas and to make a factual public statement about the orcas, refuting previous false claims”.
It is the third lawsuit in three weeks involving the SeaWorld company and its three marine parks in Orlando, Florida, San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, California.
Palmer said the latest action has been in the pipeline for the last nine months and was not coordinated with the other two class actions.
The lawsuit filed in Florida last week and one in California last month both seek refunds on behalf of millions of visitors, which, if successful, would cost the company billions of dollars. The plaintiffs in all three cases claim that the company misled them about what they allege are the miserable conditions endured by captive, performing orcas.
David Phillips, an expert in marine mammals at the Earth Island Institute, said: “If SeaWorld told the truth about the whales’ shortened and stressful lives in concrete tanks, and severe depression and boredom from sterile living conditions, no one would ever go there. Would people bring their children to SeaWorld if they knew the cruelty behind the orca whale circus show? We think not.”
SeaWorld has vociferously denied all the claims in the previous two lawsuits.
The Earth Island Institute is advising the law firm Covington & Burling, which filed the latest lawsuit in San Francisco on behalf of the plaintiffs.
“SeaWorld is violating California consumer protection laws and engaging in unfair business practices,” said Christine Haskett, a partner with the law firm.
SeaWorld has been contacted for comment.
Content sourced from here
SeaWorld has been hit with another class action lawsuit accusing the aquatic theme park company of misleading the public when it insists its captive, performing killer whales are happy and healthy.
Unlike in two recent lawsuits, the plaintiffs in the latest legal action in California are not demanding that SeaWorld reimburse millions of visitors for the price of their tickets but that the company simply be forced to “cease making false statements” about the welfare of its giant mammals.
The environmental advocacy and research group Earth Island Institute, based in Berkeley, California, is advising the legal team representing the plaintiffs.
“We want to force SeaWorld to tell the truth,” Mark Palmer, assistant director of the Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project, told the Guardian.
Two members of the public who have visited the SeaWorld park in San Diego are the named plaintiffs: Mark Anderson and Ellexa Conway, from San Francisco.
But Palmer said the institute was the driving force behind the lawsuit and sought out the individual plaintiffs to represent the class action on behalf of members of the public.
The lawsuit demands that SeaWorld refute marketing statements that whales at its parks are thriving.
SeaWorld declined to issue a fresh statement in response to the latest lawsuit and said an earlier statement applied, which called the accusations baseless and said SeaWorld intends to defend itself “against these inaccurate claims”. The company vigorously denies the allegations in the lawsuits and points out that its parks are regularly inspected by the US government.
The institute ultimately wants SeaWorld to be compelled to cease running “a whale circus”, Palmer said, and stop captive breeding programs, instead allowing its orcas to retire to large sea pens and live out the rest of their lives being fed and tended to by SeaWorld trainers and veterinarians, he said.
“We hope the courts order SeaWorld to tell the truth about orcas in captivity,” Palmer told the Guardian.
The lawsuit, filed in California superior court in San Francisco on Tuesday, seeks a court order requiring SeaWorld “to cease making false statements about the health and welfare of the orcas and to make a factual public statement about the orcas, refuting previous false claims”.
It is the third lawsuit in three weeks involving the SeaWorld company and its three marine parks in Orlando, Florida, San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, California.
Palmer said the latest action has been in the pipeline for the last nine months and was not coordinated with the other two class actions.
The lawsuit filed in Florida last week and one in California last month both seek refunds on behalf of millions of visitors, which, if successful, would cost the company billions of dollars. The plaintiffs in all three cases claim that the company misled them about what they allege are the miserable conditions endured by captive, performing orcas.
David Phillips, an expert in marine mammals at the Earth Island Institute, said: “If SeaWorld told the truth about the whales’ shortened and stressful lives in concrete tanks, and severe depression and boredom from sterile living conditions, no one would ever go there. Would people bring their children to SeaWorld if they knew the cruelty behind the orca whale circus show? We think not.”
SeaWorld has vociferously denied all the claims in the previous two lawsuits.
The Earth Island Institute is advising the law firm Covington & Burling, which filed the latest lawsuit in San Francisco on behalf of the plaintiffs.
“SeaWorld is violating California consumer protection laws and engaging in unfair business practices,” said Christine Haskett, a partner with the law firm.
SeaWorld has been contacted for comment.
Content sourced from here
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