Only The Most Inhumane Argue Tilikum Belongs In Captivity
EYES WIDE SHUT
Only The Most Inhumane Argue Tilikum Belongs In Captivity
JUST DAYS AFTER SCIENTISTS WHO REFUSE TO STUDY DOLPHINS IN CAPTIVITY argued that those marine animals should be deemed "nonhuman persons," a six-ton Orca confined in tanks at Florida's SeaWorld killed a human for the third time.
It was just last Sunday at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science conference that scientists debated whether dolphins deserve special rights because of their human-like qualities.
"Dolphins appear to be self-conscious, unique individuals with distinctive personalities, memories and a sense of self, who are vulnerable to a wide range of physical and emotional pain and harm, and who have the power to reflect upon and choose their actions," Thomas I. White of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics reportedly told the crowd.
The proof? Researchers have found in studies that dolphins whose bodies were "marked" quickly swam to observe their reflections in a mirror. Because these experiences verified self-awareness, these same scientists have vowed not to study dolphins in captivity because they believe it's cruel.
Now the death of Dawn Brachneau, 40, raises again the question of whether it's ever humane to capture and house wild animals outside their natural environments.
Brachneau was drowned when Tilikum, a 12,000 pound Orca pulled her underneath the water by her ponytail. Horrified park visitors watched as the massive mammal jumped through the air and grabbed the trainer.
"He was thrashing her around pretty good,"’ one witness told a reporter.
Brancheau had worked at the park for 16 years, 14 of them with whales. She was the third human to be killed by this whale.
"This was not an insane, uncontrollable act," Richard Ellis, a marine conservationist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York told the New York Times. "This was premeditated."
As SeaWorld resumes its normal programming, experts debate whether the whale was "playing," or was "neurotic" after being confined to too small a space. Yet I can’t help thinking that only humans are arrogant enough to wonder if animals mind being held captive. Does this lack of awareness in some people makes them, well, animals? Should we lock them up?
If animal have only to "feel," have unique personalities, and have a sense of time to be deemed “nonhuman persons,” then it's time we broadened the debate about which animals deserve protections.
Anybody with a common housecat – an oxymoron surely -- recognizes that their pet is capable of each of these traits.
And what about the countless news stories about the cats who saved families from fire? About the dogs who react when a family member falls ill?
The cows that escape slaughterhouses?
Only the most inhumane among us argue that animals have no sense of self, time, fear or death, and that it doesn't matter that they live in captivity.
Why should we let them win the argument?
