Looks like this Flipper flipped out!
While visiting San Antonio’s SeaWorld, a 9-year old girl was reportedly petting a dolphin at their Dolphin Cove where petting is allowed, when the dolphin allegedly bit her hand so tightly, that her mother was unable to free her from its clutches.
In fact, it took a SeaWorld employee to extricate her from the mouth of the beast. Okay, dolphins aren’t beasts, but still…scary stuff! We knew dolphins had sex for fun, but gnawing on little girls? Keep it classy, guys!
Now, PETA is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate, in a request that states that SeaWorld is endangering guests and dolphins alike, and that the area requires more barriers and/or distance and/or Robert Muldoon from Jurassic Park.
Meanwhile, general counsel to PETA Jeff Kerr had this to say about the incident:
“It’s stressful enough for far-ranging dolphins to be locked up in SeaWorld’s tiny tanks, but forcing them to interact with visitors is downright dangerous. SeaWorld’s ‘Dolphin Cove’ is another example of how the park’s main priority is profit, not the welfare of the animals or the safety of its guests.”
Meanwhile, SeaWorld San Antonio spokesman Brian Carter mentioned that they have not received any outreach yet from the USDA:
“We [SeaWorld] are fully investigating this incident and we regret the guest experienced this during her visit. SeaWorld provides thousands of safe interactions between our guests and animals each day, and incidents like this are few and far between.”
Except something similar happened last year when an 8-year old girl had the same thing happen to her! Plus, anyone who has seen the Netflix documentary Blackfish knows that sometimes these “incidents” can prove to be sadly lethal.
We hope SeaWorld can echolocate the true source of this problem and fix it ASAP!
[Image via PETA.]
