Imagine a sport in which the athletes are drugged to mask debilitating injuries, whipped to make them perform, pushed beyond their physical limits and sometimes even die as part of the game. You don’t have to stretch your imagination too far because it’s called horse racing.

While SeaWorld sold the absurd lie that orcas do better in concrete tanks than in their natural habitat, John Hargrove, a former orca trainer, watched them suffer. He gives readers an inside look at why he’s against keeping orcas in captivity.