7/31/2019 Sample letter to send to sponsers/partners of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

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To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to advise you that your affiliate partner, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, hasbeen violating federal law for almost a year by housing their killer whale, Shouka, without

any companionship.

Section 3.109 of the Animal Welfare Act states marine mammals, whenever known to be

primarily social in the wild, must be housed in their primary enclosure with at least one

compatible animal of the same or biologically related species. Since the fall of 2011,Shoukas companion of 7 years, a male bottlenose dolphin named Merlin was moved to

another area of the park leaving Shouka in complete isolation.

Keeping a highly intelligent, sentient being like an orca in solitary confinement is the sameas keeping a person in isolation. Killer whales are notable for their complex societies which

only elephants and higher primates, such as humans, live in comparably complex social

structures. Resident orcas like Shouka live in matrilineal family groups, which are the most

stable of any animal species.

Killer whales also share the same spindle cells located in our brains, which are creditedwith allowing us to feel love and to suffer emotionally. The cells occur in parts of the brain

that are thought to be responsible for our social organization, empathy, speech, intuition

about the feelings of others, and rapid gut reactions. These cells were touted as the brain

cells that set humans and the other great apes apart from all other mammals and now it hasbeen discovered they are also shared with some species of whales. It is a cruel and

inhumane act on the part of Six Flags to keep Shouka isolation from other species of her

kind.

I am asking that you cease your affiliation with Six Flags Discovery Kingdom until thepark is in compliance with federal law. I will no longer support your company nor itsproducts and will also let everyone I know and come in contact with that your company

supports and partners with facilities who violate federal laws.