People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) came after Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, on Monday after she posted pictures of her family swimming with dolphins during a recent vacation.
Brittany, who later deleted the Instagram post, wrote, “‘Ever snuggled a 400lbs dolphin?’ with a heart-eyes emoji,” according to Fox News.
The animal-rights group PETA, which has come to the defense of dolphins in the past by criticizing Titanic director James Cameron for not asking dolphins permission to use them in his movies, urging the Miami Seaquarium to stop “exploiting” dolphins, and teaming up with rocker Joan Jett to accuse Sea World of “sexually abusing” bottlenose dolphins, had strong words for Brittany.
“We know you love companion animals, but we hope to see you extend your compassion to marine life too,” PETA wrote as a comment on Brittany’s post, in what TMZ called a “lengthy note.”
PETA continued, writing:
In the ocean, dolphins swim up to 60 miles each day, but when used for entertainment, they’re confined to small tanks or pools. Many dolphins develop painful conditions, such as stomach ulcers, and some die prematurely from the stress conditions of extreme captivity. Not to mention, many illnesses can be passed from dolphins to human visitors including viral, fungal and bacterial infections such as salmonella.
“These types of interactions are dangerous for them AND us,” PETA concluded.
PETA on Wednesday shared exclusive and horrifying photos with Breitbart News from inside the Yulin, China, Dog Meat Festival, which occurs yearly in June. The group has been working to save as many dogs as they can from the “ten-day outdoor animal slaughter event,” Breitbart News’ International Editor Frances Martel wrote.
Patrick and Brittany and their two adorable children were the subjects of a July 4th feature in People magazine.
Patrick Mahomes made headlines during this year’s Superbowl for being openly Christian.
“I mean, I always ask God to lead me in the right direction and let me be who I am for His name,” Mahomes said. “So it has a role in everything that I do, and obviously it will be on a huge stage at the Super Bowl that He’s given me and I want to make sure I’m glorifying Him while I do it.”