PETA to Demonstrate as Slyter Goes to Trial in Pasadena Today

Whether Amanda Slyter’s defense of “necessity” for taking part in an anti-SeaWorld demonstration at the 2014 Rose Parade will set legal precedent or not, when she goes to trial on Thursday at the Superior Court in Pasadena, it will be the first time the defense has been used “to justify actions taken to prevent harm done to captive animals used in entertainment,” according to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

The necessity defense is also referred to as the “lesser of two evils” or “greater good” defense.

PETA announced in an emailed press release Wednesday that it plans to picket the Superior Court, 300 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, at 1 p.m. on Thursday, holding signs that read “Boycott SeaWorld.” Slyter was one of 16 protestors arrested at the parade for a sit-in in front of the SeaWorld float at the start of the parade on Jan. 1. The charge is “interfering with a special event.”

The float and entries behind it were stopped for about five minutes.

The theme park chain, which features sea mammals performing for audiences, entered a float in the 2014 Rose Parade to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The float, titled “Sea of Surprises,” won the President’s Trophy for most effective floral use and presentation. PETA refers to the float as “propaganda,” and stated that Slyter’s attorney “will argue that the cruel capture and lifetime confinement of orcas in SeaWorld’s tiny concrete tanks constitute an emergency that necessitates action and that, therefore, her disruption of a propaganda plan to support continued captivity must be permitted under law.”

PETA asserts that “at least 25 orcas have died in US SeaWorld facilities since 1986.” The organization has purchased stock in SeaWorld with the goal of gaining enough clout to push the corporation to fund the creation of seaside sanctuaries for orcas.