Petition Link –
http://forcechange.com/138659/end-capture-of-killer-whales-for-entertainment/
Target: Senator Kirk Pearson, Chair of the Washington State Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Parks
Goal: Officially ban the capture of wild killer whales off of Washington State’s coasts.
Capturing wild killer whales off the coast of Washington so that they can be put in tanks and made to perform tricks might soon be made illegal, if legislation under consideration by the state’s Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Parks is approved. This would be a huge blow to the unethical animal entertainment industry. Demand that the committee approve of the proposal so that it can be given a full Senate vote and ultimately made law.
Washington’s Puget Sound, and the seas off the state, are a natural habitat for killer whales, and have been for hundreds of thousands of years. Because of this, more than half of all killer whales that have been captured and sent into captivity have come from Washington’s waters. Even though, admirably, there are no killer whales in captivity in the state itself, the fact that its waters could still be used as a source of these animals is an issue that needs to be addressed. The bill currently under discussion in the Committee on Natural Resources and Parks would do just that, but it needs to become law before it can have any positive impact.
To be given the chance to become law, the bill needs to be approved by the committee before it can actually be given a full vote by the Senate. Sign the petition below to demand that the committee approve the bill and send it to the Senate floor for a full vote.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Senator Pearson,
I am writing you today regarding a bill that you and your colleagues in the Committee on Natural Resources and Parks are discussing that would ban the capture of killer whales in your state’s waters. I urge you and your committee to approve the bill so that it can have the chance to become law.
As your colleagues have pointed out, more than half of the killer whales that have been captured and put in captivity have come from Washington. These naturally social and highly intelligent animals, who in their natural habitats regularly swim thousands of miles, are then placed in chlorinated tanks that are too small and forced to perform tricks. They are denied everything that is natural to them. You have heard testimony from advocates of these practices in your committee’s discussion over this bill who claimed that this helped the animals because it inspires people to support their conservation. In what backwards world does actively harming killer whales help their conservation?
This bill is a huge step forward for protecting these animals and making sure that they can live as they were always meant to. I demand that you and your committee approve this bill so that it can move on to the Senate floor and be given the chance to become law.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Christopher Michel via Wikimedia Commons
Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional | Leave a comment »
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