Colbert On SeaWorld Slavery Case: Animals 'Can Speak For Themselves' (VIDEO)

"I'm an animal lover -- beef, pork, poultry, even fish," Stephen Colbert declared on "The Colbert Report" Wednesday night.

Colbert went on to tackle the lawsuit that PETA is filing against SeaWorld. According to PETA, the marine park is enslaving whales, in violation of the 13th Amendment ban on slavery.

The Associated Press reports that Jeff Kerr, PETA's general counsel, said, "By any definition, these orcas are slaves - kidnapped from their homes, kept confined, denied everything that's natural to them ... The males have their sperm collected, the females are artificially inseminated and forced to bear young which are sometimes shipped away."

In the satirical TV program, Colbert argued, "How many slaves got to hang out all day at a water park?"

He went on to joke that "corporations like SeaWorld are people. We have to treat corporations with care and respect, and not cage them with ethical treatment of animals." He declared that the corporation should have the right to dress up dolphins and "teach sea lions to dance to 'Thriller.'"

In a press release, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk argued that the orcas are "kept in small concrete tanks and reduced to performing stupid tricks."

Colbert joked, "I am incensed every time PETA speaks for the animals. They can speak for themselves."

In a PETA TV spot over the summer, Bob Barker discouraged viewers from going to SeaWorld, arguing that many orcas "have died prematurely." According to PETA, at least 23 orcas have died in U.S. SeaWorld facilities over the past 25 years from causes other than old age.

A SeaWorld statement claims the PETA case challenges "the public's right to enjoy and learn more about marine mammals."

The Associated Press reports:

Overall, under prevailing U.S. legal doctrine, animals under human control are considered property, not entities with legal standing of their own. They are afforded some protections through animal-cruelty laws, endangered-species regulations and the federal Animal Welfare Act, but are not endowed with a distinct set of rights.

WATCH Colbert adress the PETA/SeaWorld controversy:

Comments

[lakkotasue]

05:56 PM on 10/30/2011

I am an animal advocate. I do NOT sanction what PETA does. They do more harm than good. However, Stephen Colbert is a total idiot. If animals truly *COULD* speak for themselves, they would have gotten rid of slaugterhouses, leg hold traps, sport hunters (as opposed to those who hunt to survive), zoos, animal-centered theme parks, people who hunt from helicopters and tree stands, puppy mills, laboratories that experiment on animalsand all other forms of animal exploitation. Unfortunately, they can't. So they are at the mercy of people like Colbert...an insensitive, narrow-minded moron.

[travelingblogger]

12:44 AM on 10/30/2011

The next thing you know, PETA will be demanding that animals be given the right to vote, own land, hold public office, carry handguns, and even marry out of species.

[Forester]

05:17 PM on 10/28/2011

Sea World is doing something very wrong - and deep down we all know that.

[SimonBao]

11:36 AM on 10/28/2011

Cripes... this just makes me hate PETA even more.

At least once a month, PETA does something absolutely stupid and inexcusable that undermines the cause of animal welfare. And makes me wish PETA would go bankrupt, and make room for a more responsible organization to take its place.

[Ziggy1982]

10:12 AM on 10/28/2011

Of course the 13th amendment should apply to Orcas. The second amendment already applies to Grizzlies!

[FilthyHarry]

09:16 AM on 10/28/2011

Interesting point is that the SCOTUS didn't find that corporations are covered by the 1st amendment because they are people, they found quite simply that the first amendment says the govt shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. So corps aren't covered by the 1st amendment because they are people, but that when congress made a law that restricted the freedom of speech, regardless of who it was intended to apply to, it was unconstitutional. The status of corporations as people or not never actually entered into it.

That being the case the same argument can be used for animals and the 13th amendment. Since the 13th amendment, like the 1st, doesn't specify its applicability to only people (even though for both amendments that should have been understood) using Citizens United as a SCOTUS precedent it shouldn't be so far fetched to think this case has merit.

Of course the animals will probably make the very common legal error of failing to spend billions lobbying govt and buying judges.

[janetislight]

11:59 PM on 10/27/2011

A little info on Orcas. Do you see that dorsal fin in the pictures flopping sideways? That's a sick whale. Wales don't frequent one little spot, or a certain reef. They are long range travelers and when they cannot do that they become ill. Just as dolphins are extremely social and need to be provided a "family" unit which fits them. I worked will dophins on the keys where they rehabilitate, study and train animals for places such as Sea World and are very careful about who goes into captivity. And there is suppose to be a lifespan for that captivity as well. Whales are anotoher matter all together. They are not the "family" unit type and need a lot of space to remain healthy.

[girldog]

06:58 AM on 10/28/2011

Interesting, thanks for the info.

[lakkotasue]

05:58 PM on 10/30/2011

Thank you so much for your succint and informative post! Well said!

[seanrm92]

07:19 PM on 10/27/2011

Whales are very intelligent. Within a week of being taken into captivity, a whale can teach a human to stand at the poolside and give them fish all day. If anything it should be the WHALES being charged with slavery!

[travelingblogger]

12:46 AM on 10/30/2011

LOL so true..

[ThinkCreeps]

06:24 PM on 10/27/2011

There are no reports of killer whales attacking humans.
(Because they don't take prisoners or leave witnesses.)

[mixahman]

03:24 PM on 10/27/2011

Nuke the Whales!