couple of questions

[veganpower]

I would like to donate money to an animal rights group..can someone suggest whom i should donate to...and why them?

Also, I was wondering if it would make me a hypocrite if I work at Seaworld. My friend says its a good job and they treat the animals very well..anyone heard of any mistreatment what so ever? He also says they release the animals after a certain age and they donate lots of money to help the environment.

thank you.

[LovelyPerv]

First off, if you work at SeaWorld you can find out for yourself...even try to make change if you see something you don't like. Second, it's not like the park will shut down if you're not there...they'll just hire someone else - and that someone else may not care as much as you do.

As far as donations go...personally... I don't donate to big-name charities that everyone already knows about. I try to find smaller charities, that REALLY need it, and don't get many donators.

Example: local no-kill animal shelters. Since the state governments and the counties usually determine that 'they do not provide a community service' they are ineligible for any kind of local or state funding, and many can't get grants either. Most of them survive entirely off of donations for the vet bills, food, and payroll (don't let the idea of paying for payroll put you off...many volunteers don't stick around very long, and they certainly don't want to volunteer the equivalent of a 40-hour workweek).

[LifeDrngWartime]

I do think working for SeaWorld is a hypocrisy for someone who stands for animal rights. Yes, someone else would probably do the job... but you could say that about almost anything. Someone else would work at the slaughterhouse and might be less kind to the animals, someone else would buy that fur coat – you won’t bring down the fur industry by refusing. At what point do you stand up for what you stand for?

If you have your heart set on working with marine life, there must be work you can do that is more ethical than an alliance with SeaWorld. Maybe you could do volunteering with a marine mammal rehab and release program.

As for what your friend said, it sounds like she’s either misinformed or is just talking crap. Trained animals have to be taught to survive in the wild, and releasing old, trained animals into the ocean – which I doubt that SeaWorld does – would not make the park ethical as far as I’m concerned. Releases can happen but it takes time and effort to get them ready for the wild.

This is PETA’s factsheet on marine parks like SeaWorld... http://www.downbound.com/Marine_Parks_s/429.htm

Friend's of Animals, "Whale Rescue Team", who oppose SeaWorld... http://www.whalerescueteam.org/projects.html

This is from a marine park factsheet on releasing trained sea mammals ... (it says it’s unwise to set them free because they’re domesticated) http://www.ammpa.org/faqs.html#10

And for your referance,

This is one rehab program for wild, stranded sea animals, http://www.marineanimalrescue.org/

And this is the story of Keiko, aka ‘Free Willy’, and other captive whales... www.keiko.com

What does your conscience say?

To your question of which is a good animal organization, there are so many needy, worthy organizations. A few off the top of my head are the Fund For Animals, In Defense of Animals, The Jane Goodall Institute, The American Anti-Vivisection Society, Farm Sanctuary, The Animal Legal Defense Fund, local shelters and programs....

I respect your efforts to make a positive impact, and good luck to you.