PETA Sues for More Animal Rights [Updated]

People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is asking a federal court to grant constitutional rights to five killer whales who perform at two SeaWorld theme parks.

PETA claims that the marine park is keeping five performing whales in conditions that violate the 13th Amendment ban on slavery. 

PETA is filing the suit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in San Diego. The organization is relying on the fact that the 13th Amendment does not explicitly say that only humans can be victims of slavery or involuntary servitude.

[Update | 2:30 p.m. PETA held a news conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the action.]

PETA's general counsel, Jeff Kerr, says that his five-member legal team spent 18 months preparing for the case. He believes it's the first federal court suit that seeks constitutional rights for members of animal species. 

Orca whales Tilikum and Katina from SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., and Corky, Kasatka and Ulises from SeaWorld of San Diego are the five plaintiffs in the case. Tilikum, a six-ton male, was captured nearly 30 years ago off Iceland and has fathered many of the calves born at SeaWorld parks. But the whale also made national headlines in February 2010 when he grabbed a SeaWorld trainer during a show and dragged her underwater until she drowned. 

"By definition, these orcas are slaves -- kidnapped from their homes, kept confined, denied everything that's natural to them and forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld's profits," Kerr said. "The males have their sperm collected, the females are artificially inseminated and forced to bear young which are sometimes shipped away." 

SeaWorld said extending the 13th Amendment's protection beyond humans is "baseless and in many ways offensive." 

"SeaWorld is among the world's most respected zoological institutions," the company stated in a press release. "There is no higher priority than the welfare of the animals entrusted to our care and no facility sets higher standards in husbandry, veterinary care and enrichment." 

U.S. marine parks, including SeaWorld, are governed by the Marine Mammals Protection Act. However, under current U.S. law, animals under human control are considered property, not entities with legal standing of their own. There are some laws that prevent animal cruelty but animals are not endowed with a set of rights. 

PETA addressed that Supreme Court rulings have applied the 13th Amendment to many forms of involuntary servitude beyond the type of slavery that existed during the Civil War. 

The suit claims that captivity in the "barren tanks" of marine parks suppresses the whales' activities and relationships and subjects them to stress. According to the suit, this might lead to cases where the orcas injure other orcas, humans or themeselves. 

If successful, PETA's lawsuit asks the courts to release the whales into custody of a legal guardian who would seek a "suitable habitat" outside of SeaWorld. 

SeaWorld officials dismissed the entire suit as a publicity stunt.