... And in related news, wild animals go wild...SHOCKING!!!!
By now, I'm sure that all of you have heard that a few days ago, a killer whale by the name of Tilikum, killed his trainer, Dawn Brancheau, soon after a midday show. Without provocation, this wild animal gained momentum by swimming to the far side of the tank, then swam back rapidly towards Ms. Brancheau, jumped in the air, grabbed her by the waist, pulled her into the water and whipped her around the tank. Sounds premeditated to me.
Am I surprised by any of this, certainly not. Actually, I'm surprised that this doesn't occur more often. What irks me about this situation is, there are many people calling for leniency for this killer whale. Even Dawn Brancheau's older sister, Diane Gross, is stating that this killer whale should be allowed to live. Ms. Gross believes that her sister would want it that way, saying that her sister "loves these animals like children".
Now, had this death seemed accidental in nature, I might be inclined to agree with Tilikum's apologists. However, considering the way this trainer was killed, and that this killer whale has killed two people before, I can't believe that there isn't a bigger outcry to put this wild animal down, once and for all. How many people must die due to Tilikum's aggressive behavior before the Fur-Nazis (aka PETA and their ilk) say enough is enough? It was well-known that due this orca's history of killing humans and his size, that no one was to go in the tank with him. And less than half of the trainers were even allowed to train with him. Now that he's killed for a third time, I guess only the Siegfried & Roy of aquatic animals can train this killer whale, right? ...SMH
If the Fur-Nazis had the same amount of compassion for their human counterparts as they do for animals great and small, I probably wouldn't be writing this. Unfortunately, not that long ago, an African-American boy was given a life sentence for accidentally killing a younger child while attempting a wrestling move he saw on TV. If this doesn't scream tragic accident, I don't know what does.
I don't recall any organization coming out in support of this child getting leniency (at least any that weren't African-American based). Maybe PETA can form a "human-wing" to their organization. They could call it People for the Ethical Treatment of Humans (PETH for short). Then maybe they could get people like me to join their organization or at least be empathetic to their cause. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that PETA goes extra hard for animals of most kinds. I just wish that they went this hard for people as well; especially those who are usually not represented well in our legal system. BTW, PETA, people are animals as well.
It's funny (in a sad way) how Tilikum (aka "Tilly") has been dealt with since his first kill. Instead of putting him back in the wild, or keep him from doing any more shows, or euthanizing him, they just moved him to a new city where (hopefully) those people won't be turned off by his previous behavior. Orlando was the second city he has been moved to. Now with his third kill, can anybody say, SAN DIEGO??? He's getting the Catholic Priest treatment for Pete's sake. Look at the similarities:
1) They're both recognized by their black/white colors.
2) They both perform in front of large paying audiences:
3) And if they do anything unlawful to either the parishioners/patrons or the altar boys/staff, they just get relocated and little else. Is this not crazy???!?!?
Just imagine for a sec, that OJ Simpson killed somebody (even by accident) , where there were hundreds of people who saw it. How would people react to that? There are large portions of the American populace that would be screaming for OJ's head to be cut off in some public square for all to see. Too bad OJ can't swim real fast or jump through large hoops for a crowd's entertainment...Oh, wait a minute, he did have ability to run real fast and jump over defenders while scoring touchdowns for a crowd's entertainment. Boy, they sure loved him back then. I guess Tilly better slow down all this killing when he gets too old to do any tricks for us. Maybe his days will be numbered by then. That is why a large part of the blame has to be put on SeaWorld, for taking in Tilly while fully aware of his previous killings. They are no better than Hollywood, the NFL, MLB, etc., who protect their stars as long as money can be made off of their talent.
Like I said before, I'm all for putting Tilly back out into the wild. And eventually, some Arctic Justice would probably be Tilly's demise. However, Bill Maher (a big-time Fur-Nazi) said on his show that he doesn't talk "animal" and can't tell if animals like being in a zoo/aquarium. It's quite possible that some animals may find life in the wild, too hard to deal with. If that's so, they should abide by some simple rules...no killing of any patrons, trainers or other animals. Not so hard, right? Because at the end of the day, whether it's OJ, a lone gunman, a drunk driver, or a wild animal that kills somebody, dead is dead, no matter how you slice it. And all those responsible should suffer the proper consequences. I'm not asking for too much, am I?
- Bru
