From: rpattree2@gmail.com   
      
   SeaWorld Puts Its Whales On Valium-Like Drug, Documents Show   
   Orcas under stress.   
   posted on March 31, 2014 at 6:34pm EDT   
    Justin Carissimo   
   BuzzFeed Staff   
       
   Getty Images   
   The theme park chain SeaWorld, already facing wide criticism from animal   
   rights advocates, treats some of its marine mammals with psychoactive drugs,   
   according to a document obtained by BuzzFeed.   
      
   Trainers give their orcas, also known as killer whales, the psychoactive drug   
   benzodiazepine, according to the sworn affidavit filed in the Ontario Superior   
   Court of Justice in a dispute between the park company and the rival company   
   Marineland over the    
   transport of a prized killer whale, Ikaika, to SeaWorld.   
      
   Benzodiazepines are a type of drug that includes the common human medications   
   Valium and Xanax. The orcas' mental health issues, SeaWorld's critics say, are   
   a direct result of their keeping the mammals in captivity.   
      
   Jared Goodman, Director of Animal Law at the People for the Ethical Treatment   
   of Animals (PETA), told BuzzFeed that he believes the leaked documents will   
   play a key role in SeaWorld's future.   
      
   "The veterinary records show that orcas at SeaWorld are given psychotropic   
   drugs to stop them from acting aggressively towards each other in the   
   stressful, frustrating conditions in which they're confined instead of funding   
   the development of coastal    
   sanctuaries - the only humane solution," Goodman said.   
      
   The questions about the drugs given to the whales, which also include a range   
   of antibiotics, come as SeaWorld is reeling from a critical documentary.   
   Blackfish tells the story of a killer whale named Tilikum, who's been accused   
   of killing three people    
   but is still retained by SeaWorld. Tilikum's genes are found in 54% of the   
   whales in SeaWorld's current whale collection, and has fathered at least 21   
   whales from artificial insemination.   
      
   A spokesperson for SeaWorld Fred Jacobs defended the medication in an emailed   
   statement.   
      
   "Benzodiazepines are sometimes used in veterinary medicine for the care and   
   treatment of animals, both domestic and in a zoological setting," Jacobs said.   
   "These medications can be used for sedation for medical procedures,   
   premedication prior to general    
   anesthesia, and for the control of seizures. The use of benzodiazepines is   
   regulated, and these medications are only prescribed to animals by a   
   veterinarian. Their use for cetacean healthcare, including killer whales, is   
   limited, infrequent, and only as    
   clinically indicated based on the assessment of the attending veterinarian.   
   There is no higher priority for SeaWorld than the health and well-being of the   
   animals in its care."   
      
   But animal advocates say the orcas' condition is far from normal.   
      
   The founder of the Orca Research Trust, Ingrid Visser, said the drugs are   
   likely treating a condition caused by captivity, and that their violence is   
   the result of stress, not native aggression.   
      
   "They do not cope with being kept in these tanks. They survive to some degree,   
   but they don't thrive to any degree," Visser said. "They show stereotypical   
   behaviors that are abnormal, repetitive behaviors like head bobbing, chewing   
   on concrete, and self    
   mutilation by banging the side of their heads on the side of the tank, and   
   there isn't a single orca living in captivity where you cannot see one of   
   these behaviors, and in many of them you see multiple examples of these   
   behaviors."   
      
   PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk, accused SeaWorld of "pump[ing] these marine   
   slaves full of psychotropic drugs in order to force them to perform stupid   
   tricks."   
      
      
      
      
   http://www.buzzfeed.com/justincarissimo/seaworld-puts-its-whales   
   on-valium-like-drug-documents-show?s=mobile   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)