SAN DIEGO – A federal judge for the first time in U.S. history heard arguments Monday in a case that could determine whether animals enjoy the same constitutional protection against slavery as human beings.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller called the hearing in San Diego after Sea World asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that names five orcas as plaintiffs in the case.
PETA claims the captured killer whales are treated like slaves for being forced to live in tanks and perform daily at its parks in San Diego and Orlando, Fla.
“This case is on the next frontier of civil rights,” said PETA attorney Jeffrey Kerr, representing the five orcas.
Sea World attorney Theodore Shaw called the lawsuit a waste of the court’s time and resources.
He said it defies common sense and goes against 125 years of case law applied to the Constitution’s 13th amendment that prohibits slavery between humans.
“With all due respect, the court does not have the authority to even consider this question,” Shaw said, adding later: “Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the ‘We the people’ … when the Constitution was adopted.”
Miller said he would issue his ruling at a later date.
Kerr acknowledged PETA faces an uphill battle but he said he was hopeful after Monday’s hearing.
“This is an historic day,” Kerr said. “For the first time in our nation’s history, a federal court heard arguments as to whether living, breathing, feeling beings have rights and can be enslaved simply because they happen to not have been born human. By any definition, these orcas have been enslaved here.”
The issue is not about whether the animals have been subjected to abuse, the defense said.
If the court were to grant orcas constitutional rights, Shaw warned the ruling would have profound implications that could affect the way the U.S. government uses dogs to sniff out bombs and drugs and how zoos and aquariums operate.
“We’re talking about hell unleashed,” he said.
PETA said a ruling in its favor would only help to protect the orcas in the entertainment industry and that other cases involving animals would have to be decided on their own merits.
