''Tilikum v. Sea World'' (''Tilikum et al. v. Sea World Parks & Entertainment Inc.'', 842 F. Supp. 2d 1259 (S.D. Cal. 2012)) was a legal case heard in the US Federal Court in 2012 concerning the constitutional standing of an

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...

. It was brought by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on behalf of

Tilikum Tillicum or Tilikum is a word in Chinook Jargon that means people, family, tribe, and relatives, and may refer to: Places * Tilikum Crossing, a bridge in Portland, Oregon * Tillicum, Lakewood, a neighborhood in Lakewood, Washington ** Tillicum st ...

, an orca kept in the SeaWorld Orlando park, against the SeaWorld corporation. The plaintiff asked the court to rule that the terms of the

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representative ...

applied to Tilikum, and thus that the orca's confinement amounted to involuntary servitude or slavery. The court held that the Thirteenth Amendment only applied to

person A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...

s and that Tilikum was not a person, and so was not afforded constitutional protections.

Background

Tilikum was a bull killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') bought by the SeaWorld marine park in Orlando, Florida in 1992 to be part of the park's orca exhibit. He was the largest orca in captivity. The other whales named as plaintiffs in the suit are Katina, who is also kept in Orlando, and Corky, Kasatka, and Ulises who are kept in

SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park, in San Diego, California, United States, inside Mission Bay Park. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. SeaWorld San Diego ...

. A year prior to the case, Tilikum killed his handler and fellow performer, Dawn Brancheau. On February 24, 2010, Brancheau began her "Dine with Shamu" show with Tilikum just as she had many times before. However, this show ended by Tilikum reacting poorly to Dawn's request. While Brancheau interacted with Tilikum before a live audience, he grabbed Brancheau and dragged her into the water. He held her at the bottom of the pool, ripping part of her scalp from her skull, breaking her jaw, fracturing vertebrae, and killing her. Tilikum was also one of three orcas that killed trainer

Keltie Byrne Tilikum (Document shown in documentary ''Blackfish'' states "born 12/1981". – January 6, 2017), nicknamed Tilly, was a captive male orca who spent most of his life at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. He was captured in Iceland in 1983; about a y ...

in 1991, and in 1999 the dead body of Daniel P. Dukes was found draped over his back.

Complaint

On 25 October 2011

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

organization PETA brought a constitutional lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California as

next friend In common law, a next friend (Law French ''prochein ami'') is a person who represents another person who is under age, or, because of disability or otherwise, is unable to maintain a suit on his or her own behalf and who does not have a legal gua ...

s of the orcas. They asserted the wording of the

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

is not expressly limited to humans, and that orcas are entitled to protection under 13th Amendment. PETA said that the whales "were born free and lived in their natural environment until they were captured and torn from their families." The complaint alleged the circumstances in which the whales are held results in them experiencing "extreme physiological and mental stress" and that their lifespans were shortened to "8.5 years in captivity versus up to 65 years in the wild." The lawsuit asked the court to rule that the orcas were held in illegal

involuntary servitude Involuntary servitude or involuntary slavery is a legal and constitutional term for a person laboring against that person's will to benefit another, under some form of coercion, to which it may constitute slavery. While laboring to benefit another ...

. SeaWorld called the action "baseless" and a "publicity stunt", and defended the treatment of orcas in its parks, saying "no facility sets higher standards in husbandry, veterinary care and enrichment".

The court’s decision

The court dismissed the action due to a lack of

subject-matter jurisdiction Subject-matter jurisdiction (also called jurisdiction ''ratione materiae')'' is the authority of a court to hear cases of a particular type or cases relating to a specific subject matter. For instance, bankruptcy court only has the authority ...

. Dismissing the petition after two days of hearings, US District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller wrote "As ‘slavery’ and ‘involuntary servitude’ are uniquely human activities, as those terms have been historically and contemporaneously applied, there is simply no basis to construe the Thirteenth Amendment as applying to non-humans".

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite journal , title=Tilikum cases , journal=842 F.Supp.2d 1259 (S.D.Cal. 2012) , url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/casdce/3:2011cv02476/367426/32/ {{cite news , title=SeaWorld Tilikum sick , url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-12-22/business/os-tilikum-sick-20111222_1_tilikum-killer-whale-seaworld-orlando , newspaper=Orlando Sentinel , date=December 22, 2011 , accessdate=December 22, 2011 {{cite news , title=Federal Judge Dismisses PETA Lawsuit Claiming SeaWorld Whales Are Slaves , date=9 February 2012 , url=http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2012/02/09/federal-judge-dismisses-peta-lawsuit-claiming-seaworld-whales-are-slaves/ , newspaper=CBS Tampa Bay , access-date=27 December 2014 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227175548/http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2012/02/09/federal-judge-dismisses-peta-lawsuit-claiming-seaworld-whales-are-slaves/ , archive-date=27 December 2014 , url-status=dead {{cite news , url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45038868/ns/us_news-environment/t/seaworld-performing-killer-whales-are-slaves-group-says/ , title=SeaWorld performing killer whales are slaves group says , newspaper=Associated Press / NBC , author=David Crary , author2=Julie Watson , date=25 October 2011

External links

"The Case Forever Known as Tilikum v. SeaWorld"
Jennifer O'Connor, February 9, 2012, PETA website Animal welfare and rights in the United States United States Thirteenth Amendment case law SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment United States case law 2012 in United States case law