SeaWorld sees food in a new light

By on September 29, 2016 with 3 Comments By Wayne Pacelle

When I announced with SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby in March that the theme park would stop breeding orcas at all of its operations, I emphasized that the pledge was just one element of a bigger set of commitments from the company on animal welfare. (Last month, California codified a ban on orca breeding in the state, a policy that The HSUS supported.)

Today, Manby and I published an op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times, Florida’s largest paper, urging Japan to end its dolphin hunts and its commercial whaling. Today, SeaWorld also announced a new food sourcing policy at all of its 12 parks, including SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Sesame Place.

The company is switching 100 percent of its egg usage away from battery cage operations to cage-free by the end of next year. Within the next several months, it’s switching its pork purchasing only to suppliers that have announced commitments and published targets to move away from gestation crates. As many people understandably view SeaWorld primarily through the marine animal lens, we must also ensure the animals in the company’s food supply chain aren’t forgotten. With 22 million visitors, these changes will influence the lives of countless animals.

In addition to more humane sourcing, the company has made it a “major priority” over the next year to increase the number of plant-based meals for its guests. As part of this commitment, my colleagues Ken Botts and Wanda White have been working extensively with SeaWorld’s chefs on culinary training surrounding plant-based concepts.

Our work with SeaWorld is a journey and we appreciate the steps the company has taken. At The HSUS we celebrate progress, but we want to see reform on a variety of fronts. Whether it’s working with us on anti-shark finning legislation in Congress, incorporating more non-animal entertainment features at its parks, changing its food policies for the better, or advocating for protections for marine creatures in the United States and abroad, these are good, practical advances for our cause. We want every company, from every kind of background, to join this cause and take measures to advance its mission. We want to embrace and celebrate change, and the moves SeaWorld has made in this area are real and substantive, and deserve our recognition.

Categories
Farm Animals

Subscribe to the Blog

Enter your email address below to receive updates each time we publish new content.

3 Comments

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Eric Mills says:

    Progress, assuredly!

    The fact remains that we need a nationwide ban on ALL captive cetaceans, and all wild animals in traveling circuses and carnivals.

    x
    Eric Mills, coordinator
    ACTION FOR ANIMALS
    Oakland

  2. Rietje Bolleman says:

    Cage free, is better, but still the chicken will not get enough space.
    Also this fact makes sea world looks better…. They keep orcas in cages….
    Chicken and pigs will maybe have some more space, but how do they get slaughtered????

Share a Comment

The HSUS encourages open discussion, and we invite you to share your opinion on our issues. By participating on this page, you are agreeing to our commenting policy.
Please enter your name and email address below before commenting. Your email address will not be published.

Top