PETA demands criminal charges against SeaWorld

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL, FOX 35) - The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, is asking the State of Florida to pursue criminal charges against SeaWorld over the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau.

Brancheau was killed in February by a killer whale named Tilikum. PETA issued a press release Thursday calling on Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum to intervene in the case and pursue involuntary manslaughter charges against SeaWorld and its senior executives.

According to the release PETA filed a 12-page complaint backed by 165 pages of exhibits.

"The sheriff's office and the state attorney have not done justice in a case in which all the evidence shows that SeaWorld knowingly exposed its trainers to harm and the possibility of being killed," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "When huge, wild animals such as orcas are removed from the ocean, confined to small tanks, and constantly dominated as Tilikum has been for 30 years, they are ticking time bombs."

SeaWorld later responded with a statement of their own.

“SeaWorld has cooperated with law enforcement and regulatory agencies examining the tragic death of Dawn Brancheau, including the Orange County Sheriffs Office. The allegations made by PETA today are as baseless as those made in a similar letter to the State Attorneys office in April. In our experience both OCSO and the State Attorney conduct their work thoroughly and professionally. PETAs letter appears to be another example of an organization more interested in media attention than assisting animals in need.”

The State Attorneys Office said they have yet to receive the complaint and would not be making any comments until then.

FOX 35 coverage of SeaWorld trainer killed

REPORT: SeaWorld death investigation

Complete Transcript of PETA Press Release:

PETA calls for MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES

Sheriff's Office Failed to Interview Executives or
Examine Flawed Emergency Procedures; Group Calls Report a Whitewash

Orlando, Fla. -After obtaining the investigation file of the Orange County Sheriff's Office on the February 24 killing of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was fatally attacked by an orca named Tilikum, PETA is calling on Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum to intervene in the case and pursue involuntary manslaughter charges against SeaWorld and its senior executives. In a 12-page complaint backed by 165 pages of exhibits, PETA shows how the file exposes the sheriff's grossly negligent investigation and failure to file any charges in the trainer's death as well as the state attorney's rubber-stamping of these failures-all of which PETA believes amounts to dereliction of their duties. Prior to the attack on Brancheau, Tilikum had killed twice before.

"The sheriff's office and the state attorney have not done justice in a case in which all the evidence shows that SeaWorld knowingly exposed its trainers to harm and the possibility of being killed," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "When huge, wild animals such as orcas are removed from the ocean, confined to small tanks, and constantly dominated as Tilikum has been for 30 years, they are ticking time bombs."

Unanswered questions from the investigation include the following:

• Why are all 911 calls made from SeaWorld routed through SeaWorld instead of going directly to the police?

• Why did the sheriff fail to interview a single SeaWorld executive or investigate SeaWorld's flawed emergency protocols?

• Why did it take at least 40 minutes to get the trainer out of the orca's mouth?

In addition to two previous attacks in which Tilikum killed other human beings, there have been at least six publicized attacks on trainers at SeaWorld parks since 2002. Following a 2006 incident in which an orca attacked a SeaWorld trainer in San Diego, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health concluded that it was "only a matter of time" before someone was killed. The agency withdrew its findings under pressure from SeaWorld.