The attempt to rehabilitate an animal like Keiko is largely sentimental,
motivated out of nothing but guilt. A pollyanna meme if ever there was one.
While I'm anguished at the thought of Keiko being destroyed, it's certainly
possible that that's the only option for her in the wild.
My thought on it is that we humans put her in the position she's in, so if
she's not faring well with rehabilitation, Sea World and its sister
institutions owe her a comfortable retirement.
And with the animal rights groups and all the people who watched Free Willy
looking out for her, that's probably exactly what's going to happen. (knock
wood) On the other hand, the public could be sick of hearing about her -
when the polyanna option fails, the most comfortable alternative is to
pretend it never happened (or maybe it's the whale's fault, she refused to
be rehabilitated). I hope for option #1, as it seems much more honorable.
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