Alisha Crete

The February 27th drowning of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau by a 12,000-pound killer whale has aroused new protests and concerns about the state of captive wild animals. After the incident, SeaWorld President Dan Brown said no SeaWorld park had ever before experienced a similar incident and pledged a thorough review of all of the park's standard operating procedures. The specific whale, Tilikum, has been involved in two deaths before. Nicknamed Tilly, he was blamed for a 1991 drowning of a trainer while he performing at Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia.

This is certainly fuel to the fire of many animal rights activists who have been against this kind of captivity all along. Russ Rector, a former dolphin trainer in Fort Lauderdale, said keeping the animals captive makes them dangerous.

"Captivity is abusive to these animals. And the abuse mounts up. And when these animals snap -- just for a minute -- they're so big and can be so dangerous that it's like a shotgun," Rector said. "It does an incredible amount of damage in just a moment."

Should Tilly be euthanized? Or are incidents like these the consequences we must accept as a result of keeping a creature born to live in wild in captivity? And if so, where do we draw the line? There must be strict standards in the industry of zoos and animal parks, but even then, it's clear that it may not be enough to quell concerns. What are your thoughts?

citation: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-seaworld-orlando-shamu-injury-20100224,0,6350085.story?page=2