Remember how much seeing Willy the orca warmed our hearts back in the ‘90s? Today, an orca is crying out for our help. I hope you will join me in calling for the release of Morgan, a young whale captured on the Dutch coast this summer.

Morgan was found separated from her pod, weak and upset. SOS Dolfijn, the Dutch rescue group for marine animals, helped to capture her and nurse her to health. Morgan was placed in the Dolfinarium, where she was supposed to simply recover and be released back into the ocean once fully healthy.

However, now the Dolfinarium is changing its mind—and is even considering selling Morgan to Sea World or a comparable marine theme park! Where did simply caring for an undernourished creature end and making a profit—and ending her life as she knows it for a crueler, unnatural existence away from her family—begin?

The audacity of humans never ceases to amaze me. One of my vegetarian friends is always commenting about how as humans, we think we can simply eat whatever in the world we want—alligators, monkey brains, whales—though there are simply things that aren’t meant to be eaten (or surely shouldn’t be!). I believe she’s right, and I would take the argument one step further.

We always hear about how the U.S. likes to police the world; humans, in turn, like to police animals and decide what happens to them without their consent. I applaud real conservation efforts, such as stopping the murder of dolphins or banning aerial gunning of wolves; these stop our current impact on animals rather than messing with their natural numbers and existence, remedying our harm rather than meddling.

However, like some parents do with their children, making decisions based on animals’ behalf can be directly detrimental to them. Many of these decisions are made in the best interest of the captors rather than the captive, resulting in exploitation and the treating of animals as a commodity rather than another living being.

If Morgan is forced to live out her days in an aquarium, she is sure to suffer from depression, sickness, despair, and a shorter life span. It is cruel and unusual to confine a whale to such a small enclosure when, in the wild, they are know to swim up to 100 miles a day. Please write today and ask that Morgan be given her natural life back.