Animal Advocates Cry Foul On NHL For Exploiting Live Penguins At Hockey Game

Filmed footage that was taken by a spectator at a recent Pittsburgh Penguins ice hockey game at Heinz Field, painfully shows live penguins “scrambling in terror after a fireworks display exploded behind them.”

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is calling for the institution of a policy against permitting the use of animals at NHL games and events, the Penguins were on loan from the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and paraded in front of the screaming crowd before they were subjected to the unnecessarily cruel and heartless act.

“It’s inherently upsetting for wildlife—who naturally shun contact with humans and are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment—to be hauled around and used as props, with or without explosives going off,” PETA said in a statement. “Being held in captivity is stressful enough to make penguins susceptible to illness, and subjecting them to a chaotic arena only makes matters worse.”

PETA, which is urging people toecho its message to the NHL, that crowded noisy arenas are no place for animals, further pointed out that “At a time when Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has announced that it will close and SeaWorld has ended its orca-breeding program, it has never been clearer that the public does not support the abuse of animals for entertainment.”

Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds that are highly adapted to life in the water.

Source: PETA

Photo Credits: honesttopaws, NY Daily News