To the editor:
[re Colin Woodard’s column in the March WWF] I e-mailed American Humane Society, The Humane Society of the United States, the ABC/DOD indoor cat project, along with friends, fellow ministers, etc., to see if anyone knew about just what had happened to Keiko other then he had pneumonia… I received this response to my question of just what happened to Keiko from Becky Brimley, Executive Director of the Bangor Humane Society:
“Keiko’s long suffering is extremely well documented by a team of scientists and rehabilitation experts who monitored his health for the last 4 years of his life. There is absolutely no question of foul play or a cover up. Any sadness and frustration should be firmly directed at those who brought Keiko into captivity and who continue to perpetuate the agony of cetaceans in captivity. As the first killer whale ever to be released back into the wild, Keiko’s efforts and those of the team who cared for him must be applauded. The captivity industry are all too happy to build conspiracies around his death because, quite frankly, they do not want ever to face public pressure to release another killer whale. Far better to perpetuate the myth that whales are happy performing for the public, safe from the dreadful ‘wild’ out there in the ocean.
“He was a wild animal who was able to go back to the wild. Cetaceans die, from a variety of causes, and pneumonia is not uncommon. He died younger than many of his counterparts who lived their whole lives in the wild, but certainly lived longer than he would have in an aquarium. Most importantly, you must remember the drastic improvement in the quality of his life, not the quantity of it…”
Heidi Eagleton
“To Honor Smokey” Project
Winter Harbor