14 DAY TRIAL // Shutting down SeaWorld has been on PETA's list of New Year's resolutions for quite a while. Unlike most people, who take some time before trying to make the things on their list of resolutions for a brand-new year come true, this organization staged yet another protest against the marine park on the very first day of 2014.
Not to beat about the bush, some 100 PETA members crashed the New Year's Day Rose Parade in Pasadena California on January 1, 2014, and voiced their disapproval of the fact that a SeaWorld float was allowed to take part in this event.
What's more, 19 of the protesters attempted to keep SeaWorld's float from moving forward, and sat in front of it. These 19 animal rights activists were eventually arrested by police officers.
“100 PETA supporters descended on the parade to educate attendees about the abusement park’s cruelty to orcas, and 19 were arrested for peacefully sitting down in front of the SeaWorld float,” the organization details in a press release.
“Protesters pointed out that SeaWorld’s float, which depicts orcas leaping happy and free in the sea, is a mockery of these highly intelligent animals' lives – or lack thereof – at the marine park, where they are kept in glorified bathtubs and forced to perform circus-style tricks in exchange for dead fish,” it adds.
One of the protesters taken into police custody in the aftermath of this incident was a 12-year-old girl by the name Rose McCoy.
Earlier this year, in November, this girl jumped over the barricades at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and held up a sign that read, “Boycott SeaWorld.”
According to Huffington Post, Rose McCoy later spoke to the press and said that, “I couldn't imagine being separated from my mom and put in a cement box so people could pay to gawk at me.”
Furthermore, “But that's what SeaWorld does when it snatches baby orcas from their moms. I hope families will realize the suffering in every single tiny tank at SeaWorld and stay a mile away.”
PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman and Senior Vice President Lisa Lange were also arrested after sitting in front of SeaWorld's Rose Parade float.
Check out the video below to get a better idea of how the protest unfolded.
