‘Close the Seaquarium’: Dolphin Defenders to Descend on Miami Mayor’s Office

For Immediate Release:
January 10, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Miami – Angry about continued inaction and armed with signs reading, “R.I.P., Sundance, Miami Seaquarium’s Latest Dolphin Death,” PETA supporters will converge outside the office of Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Friday, urging her to shut down the doomed Miami Seaquarium, which continues to rack up citations for violating federal animal welfare laws at an alarming rate. PETA points out that at least 100 dolphins have died at the Seaquarium—including Sundance, who died just two weeks ago.

When:    Friday, January 12, 12 noon

Where:    Outside the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Office, Stephen P. Clark Government Center, 111 N.W. First St., Miami

Credit: PETA

“How many animals must continue to suffer and die at the Miami Seaquarium before you take action to close this seedy and incompetent abusement park?” asks PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Mayor Levine Cava and the county have blood on their hands by failing to use their authority to help these desperate animals, who must be moved to sanctuaries where they can get the care they urgently need.”

A just-published U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report reveals animals languishing without appropriate veterinary care in crumbling enclosures. The citations resulted from violations including failing to provide adequate care for several dolphins who showed signs of gastric distress and a manatee who was covered in a “thick layer” of algae, large lesions, and patchy white discolorations; the lack of an adequate enrichment plan for macaws and a parrot, all of whom had plucked out their feathers due to apparent psychological distress; and numerous facilities in disrepair.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.

For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.