Trainer killed at Sea World

[igk]

It's a terrible tragedy for the trainer and her family, although I guess they should have been aware of the risks.
As a parent it's horrifying to think there were families there watching while it happened.
We went to Seaworld in San Diego in 2005 and haven't been to one since. I guess we thought it wasn't for us any more - these are very intelligent animals that are after all being kept in small pools.

 

[karentan]

i think that this is a terrible thing to happen, but out of respect for the trainer involved and her family, i dont think this should turn into a debate over the keeping of these animals in captivity. thats all i've got to say on the matter.

 

[PaulaSB12]

i think that this is a terrible thing to happen, but out of respect for the trainer involved and her family, i dont think this should turn into a debate over the keeping of these animals in captivity. thats all i've got to say on the matter.

Why not in the last 2 months 2 trainers have been killed by killer whales when else do you debate keeping 1.2 tonnes of large angry male mammel in a fishbowl.

 

[T16GEM]

i think that this is a terrible thing to happen, but out of respect for the trainer involved and her family, i dont think this should turn into a debate over the keeping of these animals in captivity. thats all i've got to say on the matter.

Why not in the last 2 months 2 trainers have been killed by killer whales when else do you debate keeping 1.2 tonnes of large angry male mammel in a fishbowl.

I think what Karen meant is that this thread is here to offer our condolences and personal memories that we may have of this trainer, not to start a debate thread about whether Sea World are right or wrong in their keeping of these animals. Lets not get the thread closed by inforcing our pesonal opinions on others - everyone is entitled to feel the way that they do, it would be a boring life if we all agreed on everything.


RIP Dawn.

 

[Dollyrar]

This is truly awful news, and has really played on my mind at work this morning
My missus and I were discussing this in the car on the way to work, and debating about the whole issue of animal captivity being right and wrong. It's a very difficult topic. The issue is that animals of any sort are prone to unpredictable behaviour. Thousands of people a year are injured and killed in their own households by family pets such as dogs who act out, so where do you draw the line? I am sure that all of the trainers are aware of the power and potential unpredictability of these animals, and respect the dangers involved in the job. It is just so sad that a poor woman has lost her life in this way, doing this job that she must have loved. I hope that it doesn't deter others from persuing this line of work, as my personal opinion is that the work that the Seaworld parks do is mostly positive in securing and maintaining the survival of certain species and increasing our awareness and understanding of the creatures we inhabit this world with. I personally have learnt a lot from my visits to the Seaworld park, and have even adopted a penguin on the back of it, but I can respect other peoples opinions on the matter.
I would just ask people to be respectful rather than reactionary with their comments I guess, as this is truly a tragedy however you sit on the fence with it.
x

 

[wayneg]

Why not in the last 2 months 2 trainers have been killed by killer whales when else do you debate keeping 1.2 tonnes of large angry male mammel in a fishbowl.

This is Trip Planning so not place to debate rights and wrongs of themeparks.
Couple more threads running on the subject so will close this one.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2405397

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2405346