Victory! Travel Giant Thomas Cook Cuts Ties With SeaWorld Following Yearlong PETA Campaign

Champagne corks are popping at PETA today with the announcement that Thomas Cook will stop selling tickets to SeaWorld – and all parks that confine highly intelligent orcas in the name of entertainment.

This happy news comes after months of determined campaigning that included over 150 protests around the country held by our wonderful supporters, tens of thousands of letters from compassionate members of the public – including Sharon Osbourne, Paul O’Grady, and renowned explorer and environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau – and multiple meetings with Thomas Cook management over the course of the last 12 months, including at the company’s annual general meeting when we demanded in front of its shareholders that it do the right thing and end all ticket sales to the notorious marine abusement park.

There’s good reason why a company that touts itself as animal-friendly should refuse to be associated with SeaWorld. The orcas forced to spend their entire lives swimming in circles in its tiny, concrete, chlorinated cells would normally swim up to 100 miles a day. They are regularly drugged to manage the resulting stress-induced aggressive behaviour, and 41 orcas and countless other animals have died on SeaWorld’s watch – far short of their natural life expectancies. There’s no humane way to keep these highly intelligent animals in captivity, let alone force them to perform cruel circus-style tricks for food.

This momentous victory means that Thomas Cook has now become the world-leading travel provider for animal welfare that it had claimed to be, and if other travel providers hope to maintain a shred of credibility with animal-loving British holidaymakers, they must follow its lead and immediately announce that they, too, will end the financial lifeline they are giving these cruel marine parks.

A huge “Thank you” to every person who helped in achieving this victory. Whether you signed our action alert, participated in a demonstration and handed out leaflets, called your local Thomas Cook shop to complain, or shared our campaign with friends and family, we couldn’t have done it without you. Together, we are changing the world for animals. As you pop open the bubbly, please take a moment to help get Morgan, a young orca languishing in captivity at the cruel Loro Parque marine park, released back into her ocean home by signing this petition to the Spanish government.