Lolita- 40 Years of Captivity in Miami

For more than 40 years Lolita has been “entertaining” guests at the Miami Seaquarium in a pool that is illegal by current standards of the Animal Welfare Act. Help us return her home to her family in the Pacific Northwest!

Read The Orca Project’s complete report on Lolita here:
Lolita the Orca; Facts, Legal Issues and How To Get Her Home

How to Help:

Visit and support the leaders in the campaign to retire Lolita from the Miami Seaquarium and return her to her family in the Pacific Northwest:

OrcaNetwork.org (Lolita) News, information and updates on Lolita and the plans for her retirement to a sea pen in the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest.

SaveLolita.com (on the Web) (FaceBook) (MySpace) The go-to source for News, Events and Information about Lolita (Tokitae).

Send Letters to USDA & APHIS:

Send a message to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). These U.S. regulatory agencies have oversight of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) which Miami Seaquarium is violating. Pre-written letters can be sent by visiting the Orca Network’s page “How to Fight for Lolita’s Retirement”.

Send Letters to local Miami Officials:

Please contact the following and express your support to “RETIRE LOLITA TO A SEAPEN”.  Complete contact information is directly below followed by email groupings and a SAMPLE LETTER; all email addresses have been tested.

 

COMPLETE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Miami Seaquarium Phone:
1-305-365-2501

 

Miami Seaquarium webform (fits all letter characters):
http://www.miamiseaquarium.com/contact/contact.asp

 

Miami Dade:
Board of County Commissioners
111 N.W. First Street, Suites 220 & 320
Miami, Florida 33128
(305) 375-5124
(305) 375-5569 (2nd Floor Fax – Districts 1-8)
(305) 375-4838 (3rd Floor Fax – Districts 9-13)

 

District One – Barbara Jordan
(305) 375-5694 Downtown Office
(305) 372-6028 Downtown Fax
Email: District1@miamidade.gov
District Office: 2780 N.W. 167th Street
Miami Gardens, Florida 33054
(305) 474-3011 (Phone)
(305) 474-3066 (Fax)

 

District Two – Dorrin Rolle
(305) 375-4833 Downtown Office
(305) 375-4843 Downtown Fax
Email: District2@miamidade.gov
District Office: City of North Miami
900 N.E. 125th Street, Suite 100
Miami, Florida 33161
(305) 694-2779 (Phone)
(305) 694-2781 (Fax)

 

District Three – Audrey Edmonson
(305) 375-5393 Downtown Office
(305) 372-6104 Downtown Fax
Email: District3@miamidade.gov
District Office: Caleb Center
5400 N.W. 22nd Avenue, Suite 704
Miami, Florida 33142
(305) 636-2331 (Phone)
(305) 638-6906 (Fax)

 

District Four – Sally Heyman
(305) 375-5128 Downtown Office
(305) 372-6179 Downtown Fax
Email: District4@miamidade.gov
District Office: 1100 N.E. 163rd Street, #303
North Miami, Florida 33162
(305) 787-5999 (Phone)
(305) 787-5998 (Fax)

 

District Five – Bruno A. Barreiro
(305) 375-5924 Downtown Office
(305) 375-5904 Downtown Fax
Email: District5@miamidade.gov
Main Office Miami Beach Office
1454 S.W. 1st Street, Ste 130 1700 Convention Ctr., Dr., 1st Floor
Miami, Florida 33135 Miami Beach, Florida 33139
(305) 643-8525 (Phone) (305) 673-7743 (Phone)
(305) 643-8528 (Fax) (305) 673-7747 (Fax)

 

District Six – Rebeca Sosa
(305) 375-5696 Downtown Office
(305) 372-6090 Downtown Fax
Email: District6@miamidade.gov
District Office: 1000 S.W. 57th Avenue, Suite 201
Miami, Florida 33144
(305) 267-6377 (Phone)
(305) 267-6366 (Fax)

 

District Seven – Carlos Gimenez
(305) 375-5680 Downtown Office
(305) 372-6103 Downtown Fax
Email: District7@miamidade.gov
District Office Frankie Rolle Center
6330 Manor Lane, Suite 100 3750 S. Dixie Highway
Miami, Florida 33143 Miami, Florida 33133
(305) 669-4003 (Phone) (305) 446-3311 (Phone)
(305) 669-4044 (Fax) (305) 569-7672 (Fax)

 

District Eight – Katy Sorenson
(305) 375-5218 Downtown Office
(305) 372-6073 Downtown Fax
Email: District8@miamidade.gov
District Office: South Dade Government Center
10710 S.W. 211th Street, Suite 204
Miami, Florida 33189
(305) 378-6677 (Phone)
(305) 253-7495 (Fax)

 

District Nine – Dennis C. Moss- Chairman
(305) 375-4832 Downtown Office
(305) 372-6011 Downtown Fax
Email: DennisMoss@miamidade.gov
South Dade Government Center Florida City Office
10710 S.W. 211th Street, Suite 206 1634 NW 6th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33189 Florida City, Florida 33034
(305) 234-4938 (Phone) (305) 245-4420 (Phone)
(305) 232-2892 (Fax) (305) 245-5008 (Fax)

 

District Ten – Javier Souto
(305) 375-4835 Downtown Office
(305) 375-4838 Downtown Fax
Email: District10@miamidade.gov
District Office: 9766 Coral Way, Suite One
Miami, Florida 33165
(305) 222-2116 (Phone)
(305) 222-2120 (Fax)

 

District Eleven – Joe Martinez
(305) 375-5511 Downtown Office
(305) 375-5883 Downtown Fax
Email: District11@miamidade.gov
District Office: 1401 S.W. 107th Avenue, Suite 301M
Miami, Florida 33174
(305) 552-1155 (Phone)
(305) 552-0577 (Fax)

 

District Twelve – Jose “Pepe” Diaz – Vice Chairman
(305) 375-4343 Downtown Office
(305) 372-6109 Downtown Fax
Email: District12@miamidade.gov
District Office: 8345 N.W. 12th Street
Miami, Florida 33126
(305) 599-1200 (Phone)
(305) 470-1791 (Fax)

 

District Thirteen – Natacha Seijas
(305) 375-4831 (Downtown Office)
(305) 375-4838 (Downtown Fax)

 

Office of Commission Auditor/Legislative Analysts
(305) 375-4354 (Phone)
(305) 679-7990 (Fax)

 

Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
(305) 375-5600 (Phone)
(305) 375-5639 (Fax)

 

Protocol & Employee Recognition
(305) 375-3611 (Phone)
(305) 372-6029 (Fax)

 

Office of the Mayor – Carlos Alvarez
(305) 375-5071 (Phone)
(305) 375-3618 (Fax)

 

County Manager – George Burgess
(305) 375-5311 (Phone)
(305) 375-1262 (Fax)

 

EMAILS:
District1@miamidade.gov
District2@miamidade.gov
District3@miamidade.gov
District4@miamidade.gov
District5@miamidade.gov
District6@miamidade.gov
District7@miamidade.gov
District8@miamidade.gov
DennisMoss@miamidade.gov
District10@miamidade.gov
District11@miamidade.gov
District12@miamidade.gov

 

With Commas:
District1@miamidade.gov , District2@miamidade.gov , District3@miamidade.gov , District4@miamidade.gov , District5@miamidade.gov , District6@miamidade.gov , District7@miamidade.gov , District8@miamidade.gov , DennisMoss@miamidade.gov , District10@miamidade.gov , District11@miamidade.gov , District12@miamidade.gov ,

 

With Semi-Colons:
District1@miamidade.gov ; District2@miamidade.gov ; District3@miamidade.gov ; District4@miamidade.gov ; District5@miamidade.gov ; District6@miamidade.gov ; District7@miamidade.gov ; District8@miamidade.gov ; DennisMoss@miamidade.gov ; District10@miamidade.gov ; District11@miamidade.gov ; District12@miamidade.gov

 

SAMPLE LETTER:

 

I am writing today to encourage Miami Seaquarium to relinquish Lolita to a seapen for rehabilitation so that she may then rejoin her pod family in Puget Sound. For almost her entire life, Lolita has been imprisoned by the Miami Seaquarium, forced to endure inadequate space, inferior medical treatment and care, lack of companionship, involuntary training, and made to perform unnatural tricks to the delight of largely-apathetic audiences. Since her capture, occurring in 1970 after the vicious slaughter of many of her pod mates, individuals comprising a large global audience concerned with Lolita have been encouraging Miami Seaquarium to relinquish her to freedom; sadly, corporate greed and indifference have resulted in Lolita’s deteriorating mental and physical state and her continued imprisonment. By refusing to release her to her family pod, Miami Seaquarium is establishing its approval of animal cruelty, and I am appalled to learn of the deliberate involvement in the exploitation of animals.

 

Although there are those who may assert that humane protocols must be followed in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act standards, the visual evidence validates the position that these directives are often ignored in favor of park management; nevertheless, establishing a threshold of humane treatment is ambiguous at best, these standards being implemented by those with questionable interests, its oversight managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service as part of the Department of Commerce. As such, it is important to recognize that all animals, fundamentally valuable beyond monetary benefit, are being exploited in demonstrably cruel and unnecessary manners. Additionally, Lolita still displays behaviours typical of those characteristic of calling to pod members (www.miamiseaprison.com) while other animals continually languish as well.

 

I hope the compassionate decision to discontinue the imprisonment of Lolita and relinquish her to a qualified seapen so that she may subsequently join her family pod in Puget Sound is exercised. However, as long as Miami Seaquarium continues to unnecessarily capitalize on the exploitation, imprisonment, and maltreatment of her, I will not financially support you. It is important to recognize that consumers are increasingly rejecting those businesses and destinations that are complicit in the suffering and unnecessary treatment of animals by shifting their loyalties to those companies that do not participate in the exploitation of them, and I hope that you will extend such an ethical and empathetic gesture as well.

 

I understand your time is limited and I thank you for your attention and consideration.

Signed, (name, location)

What else YOU can do:

• Tell your friends and families not to visit or support Marine Mammal Parks like Miami Seaquarium, SeaWorld and Six Flags.
• Call your Congressman and elected officials and tell them not to support Marine Mammal captivity. To locate your government officials, click <HERE>.