Whale of an offer: Buy SeaWorld, free animals

Sara K. Clarke | Sentinel Staff Writer Forget about freeing just Willy. An animal-rights group says a supporter wants to buy one or more SeaWorlds from the theme parks' soon-to-be new owner so it can free all the animals, even killer whales. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says an undisclosed donor wants to buy at least one SeaWorld park, then free the animals and replace them with virtual-reality or animatronic displays. "We are very interested in this offer because the intelligent, social animals imprisoned at SeaWorld are . . . denied everything that is natural and important to them -- all in the name of 'entertainment,' " PETA wrote Aug. 14 to Carlos Brito, CEO of InBev NV/SA. Belgium-based InBev, one of the world's largest brewers, is to acquire the SeaWorld parks as part of its $52 billion acquisition of... [read full story]