Emails from APHIS officials obtained as part of the legal proceedings and various Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests have revealed that APHIS officials have a deeply contemptuous attitude toward the activists seeking to free Lolita and a strong bias toward the Seaquarium. Indeed, a careful examination of the agency’s record makes clear that it is so close to the industry it is supposed to regulate that its rulings, internally, are concerned more with the health of the companies that run aquariums and marine parks than with the health of the animals
