The Tampa Bay Rays’ aquarium-style “touch tank” in center field is one of the few unique aspects of much-maligned Tropicana Field. But since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera crushed a home run into the open tank two weeks ago, the exhibit — which contains live cownose rays — has come under scrutiny.
A representative of PETA sent a strongly worded letter to Rays senior vice president John P. Higgins demanding that the team close the tank and return the animals to their natural habitat.
“The rays held captive at Tropicana Field not only were traumatically taken from their vast home waters but also are subject to harassment, loud crowds, and even baseballs capable of seriously injuring them,” said PETA Foundation director of captive animal law enforcement Delcianna Winders said in a release to the media Wednesday. “When it comes to compassion, the Rays are batting .000.”
See the homer that got the Rays in hot water — just the second to land in the tank in eight seasons, according to Business Insider — in the video below.
