PETITION TARGET: California House of Representatives Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, & Tourism
Otters starved for food so that they would be more interactive during paid guest feedings, a hedgehog who repeatedly ran head-first into glass as a result of stress, and dead parakeets left to rot in the same area as live animals — these are some of the allegations of animal neglect made by former employees of SeaQuest in Folsom, California.
Animals used in forced public interactions can be subject to stress, sedation, injury, and even death. These encounters promote the harmful ideas that sentient beings are props for entertainment and endangered species are thriving. To fuel profits, animals can be bred in excess and, once no longer useful, discarded in substandard facilities or even slaughtered.
Learning about the situation at SeaQuest helped inspire Assemblymember Nick Shultz to introduce California Assembly Bill (AB) 892.
“If a human being were treated under those conditions, we would call that cruel and unusual punishment,” Shultz said.
If passed, the legislation would make it illegal for the public to have “direct contact” with specific captive animals in California. This includes situations “where physical contact is possible” and “any proximity without a permanent physical barrier designed to prevent physical contact.”
AB 892 proposes protection for captive bears, caracals, elephants, kangaroos or kangaroo hybrids, non-human primates, otters, servals, sloths, and wallabies or wallaby hybrids.
So far, 14 states have implemented similar laws restricting animal interactions.
Lady Freethinker investigations have also uncovered widespread cruelty at facilities that offer public interactions with captive animals. We’ve documented cases of tigers having lighter flames ignited beneath their nostrils to coerce them into posing for pictures, a baby otter pup allegedly dying from the stress of public interactions, and elephants being exploited for tourist rides.
No animal should be denied food or forced to be held, pet, or otherwise engage with the public for amusement. Passing AB 892 would help ensure that wild animals — while still suffering because they are in captivity — are at least treated with more dignity.
Sign our petition urging the Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, & Tourism to support this legislation to help restrict captive animal interactions in California.
