Orcas regularly drugged at SeaWorld parks say former trainers
Several former SeaWorld Trainers have revealed that drugs were frequently given to orcas held in at least three of the marine park facilities in order to calm them down and to help them survive life in their small tanks.
The trainers, including John Hargrove, who worked at SeaWorld San Diego, said that the orcas were drugged on a regular basis to relieve stress, and that some of the drugs were so powerful they posed a threat to the people administering them.
Hargrove, together with other former trainers Samantha Berg, John Jett, Carol Ray and Jeffrey Ventre say that medications such as antipsychotics and benzodiazepines (Diazepam) were used to ‘manage’ the orcas on a daily basis.
