Miami Seaquarium, the previous dwelling of the orca referred to as Lolita, who tragically died in 2023, has launched authorized motion in opposition to the previous marine animal coach who uncovered the appalling situations by which she was stored.
The lawsuit alleges that animal rights activist Phil Demers unlawfully printed drone footage on social media displaying the captivity and situations of animals at Seaquarium.
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Attorneys for Mr Demers say that his alleged conduct is protected by the First Modification and that the case is a ‘Strategic Lawsuit In opposition to Public Participation’, or SLAPP swimsuit – a kind of authorized motion supposed to silence critics of an organisation by burdening them with authorized prices till they abandon their marketing campaign.
‘This lawsuit stems from Mr Demers having shared a 3rd occasion’s images and movies documenting Lolita’s dire residing situations, and exercising his proper to talk on a matter of public concern,’ stated Chris Carraway, employees legal professional on the Animal Activist Authorized Protection Challenge (AALDP).
‘Constitutional protections free of charge speech don’t permit Miami Seaquarium to sue Mr Demers for his criticism of its animal welfare practices, and these claims have to be dismissed.’
In response to an announcement made by the AALDF, attorneys performing on behalf of Mr Demers have filed a movement searching for abstract judgment of the declare made by Miami Seaquarium.
A abstract judgment is a court docket order that brings a authorized case to a fast shut ought to a choose decide that there isn’t a substantial cause for the case to be tried, or that it has little likelihood of success.
In submitting their movement, Mr Demers’ authorized staff has argued that he had by no means illegally flown a drone over Miami Seaquarium, and that claims that he had finished so needs to be dismissed.
The legal professionals additionally observe that in its lawsuit, Miami Seaquarium argues that drone flights such because the one exposing Lolita’s appalling situations might disturb or hurt the animals stored there, or injure a member of the general public.
Nevertheless, it was subsequently revealed that the Seaquarium itself repeatedly flies drones over its personal facility, a few of which come inside 3m (10ft) of the bottom and a few of which contain performances with greater than 100 drones.
The legal professionals argue that no animal has been harm and no members of the general public have been injured or complained consequently, due to this fact rendering Miami Seaquarium’s declare invalid.
The footage Mr Demers initially shared on social media in 2023 – which has prompted the lawsuit in opposition to him – confirmed a tank housing the orca referred to as Lolita, additionally referred to as Tokitae, and Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut by the native Lummi individuals who thought of her as household.
Lolita was captured in Puget Sound as an toddler and had been in captivity for almost 53 years, 43 of which have been spent in solitude in a tank measuring simply 80 x 35 toes (24.5 x 10.7m).
Public outrage over Mr Demers’ social media posts resulted in a concerted marketing campaign to have Lolita re-homed in a coastal sanctuary near her household, the L-pod group of Southern Resident Orcas within the Pacific Northwest.
A long time in captivity had taken a dire toll on her well being, nevertheless, and after struggling for years with continual an infection, a lesion on her lungs and a ‘near-fatal’ bout of pneumonia in 2022, Lolita died on 18 August 2023, on the age of 57 years outdated. On the time of her demise, she was the second-oldest orca in captivity.
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