In early June, Obie a twenty eight-year-old walrus passed away at SeaWorld San Diego. Obie was lovingly cared for at the facility since he was moved there in 1997 under the advisement of the federal government.
Obie’s Animal Care team’s response to his death was that of great sadness – loosing a friend and a companion they had loved and cherished for 18 years. After his death a necropsy (an examination of the body) was ordered to be performed so they could learn why Obie had passed away.
While scientists and veterinarians were running tests and looking into Obie’s death, PETA took to the media (as usual) and seized an opportunity to blast SeaWorld for the death of this aging walrus. Facts and reality be damned.
PETA’s statement wasn’t just insensitive. It was at best factually incorrect and most likely intentionally misleading.
PETA has shown it does not care about facts. They only cares about spreading their radical agenda, particularly when the reality of the situation is completely detached from the PETA narrative.
In order to understand just how inaccurate PETA is, you have to first understand that SeaWorld did not rescue Obie. He was rescued by the Alaska Sea Life Center, hundreds of miles from SeaWorld in 1987. It was the federal government who decided that SeaWorld San Diego would be the best home for Obie in 1997, a whole 10 years after his initial rescue.
PETA falsely claimed that Obie died because he was, “bored, blind and died a decade earlier than what it says is the life expectancy for walruses.”
With the necropsy completed, we now know what really happened and we know the facts. The reality is that Obie died from: Arteriosclerosis – “a slow progressive degenerative change to the blood vessels throughout the body that is not uncommon in older animals,” said SeaWorld San Diego’s senior veterinarian Todd Schmitt. “The development of arteriosclerosis in Obie was related to his advancing age and not associated to his living in a zoological park.”
Here are the facts:
- Obie was loved and cared for by a dedicated team of Marine Mammal Professionals.
- Obie died of a condition related to advanced aging commonly found in animals.
- PETA is wrong about Obie.
You won’t read an apology from PETA to SeaWorld for getting this wrong, because all they care about is spreading their radical agenda. Facts be damned.