PETA Wants The Rays To Close Their Fish Tank After Miguel Cabrera's Home Run Almost Killed A Ray
PETA announced today that they have sent a letter to the Rays asking that the "touch tank" be closed and the rays be returned to their home water. PETA specifically referenced the Cabrera home run and noted that they had warned the Rays of such an incident as early as 2006.
The rays are "held captive at Tropicana Field...[and] are subject to harassment, loud crowds, and even baseballs capable of seriously injuring them," says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "When it comes to compassion, the Rays are batting .000."
Of course, it would seem that the chances of a ball actually injuring a ray are extremely small.
Carbrera's home run was just the second in eight seasons to land in the tank, which allows fans to pet and feed the cownose rays. In addition, the likelihood of a ball actually hitting a ray that is scooting along the bottom of the tank and still be traveling fast enough to injure the ray makes this scenario unlikely to ever happen.
PETA did note that rays at a Brookfield Zoo touch tank in Chicago suffered a 56% mortality rate and another tank at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo had a 95% mortality rate.
Here is the Cabrera home run which does not appear to hit any rays and was quickly retrieved by a fan...