Posted on 02/08/2012 10:42:12 AM PST by lbryce
A US federal judge may rule on whether animals enjoy the constitutional protections against slavery as human beings.
The case — to test the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits slavery — arises from a move by Sea World to dismiss a lawsuit filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that names five orcas (killer whales) as plaintiffs, CNN reported.
Three marine-mammal experts and two former orca (killer whale) trainers have joined PETA in claiming that the captured orcas are treated like slaves, forced to live in tanks and perform daily at Sea World parks in San Diego and Orlando, Florida.
The Associated Press quoted PETA attorney Jeffrey Kerr, representing the five orcas, as saying: "This case is on the next frontier of civil rights."
The orcas case - the first-ever seeking to apply the 13th Amendment to nonhuman animals – named Corky, Kasatka, Ulises, Tilikum and Katina.
However, Sea World attorney Theodore Shaw said the lawsuit "went against 125 years of case law applied to the Constitution's 13th amendment that prohibits slavery between humans."
"With all due respect, the court does not have the authority to even consider this question," the AP quoted Shaw as saying.
"Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the 'We the people' ... when the Constitution was adopted," he added.
US District Judge Jeffrey Miller has announced that he will take the case under advisement and issue his ruling at a later date.
According to the AP:
"The judge raised doubts a court can allow animals to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit, and he questioned how far the implications of a favorable ruling could reach, pointing out the military's use of dolphins and scientists' experiments on whales in the wild."
Should be interesting to see how these orcas make out in the end with 40 acres and a mule.
It would be more like 40 leagues and a seahorse.
PETA..., another good reason to keep Capital punishment.
Well said! :-)
PETA should watch out because they kill more dogs and cats than the SPCA, so they should be up on murder charges.
I’ve had the same thought. My dog gets hand fed, sleeps all day, plays all the time, and gets to stay home.
I have to feed him, take him out, and care for him. If he is a slave than I am afraid to ask what I am.
Can you imagine what cats will be demanding in the way of reparations?
I’m still trying to get reparations from the Italian government for the slavery they imposed on my people 2000 years ago in England.
SOMEONE’S GOT TO PAY!
The dogs say "They feed us, they take care of us, they give us shelter, they must be gods."
The cats say "They feed us, they take care of us, they give us shelter, we must be gods."
If the judge rules for the idiots, we need to launch lawsuits all across the country in favorable places to end Roe, because if animals have constitutional rights, born and yet to be born, then so do unborn people. Can’t make people lower than animals. And science proves they’re genetically human from day 1, so they can’t claim they aren’t human life evolving into a human across 9 months. And genetically unique from mom and dad.
I’m pretty sure you can’t make an Orca do anything he doesn’t want to do. There’s a difference between slavery and persuasion.
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