Marineland facing new counts of animal cruelty

Marineland was charged Monday with six counts of animal cruelty, but the company dismissed the allegations, accusing Ontario’s animal welfare agency of acting on behalf of “a band of discredited activists.”

The latest charges, filed by the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, relate to a number of land animals kept at the tourist attraction in Niagara Falls, Ont.

They include one count each of permitting elk, red deer and fallow deer to be in distress, and one count each of failing to provide the standards of care for those animals.

The agency’s deputy chief inspector, Jennifer Bluhm, said the latest charges were part of a “complex investigation” that began on Nov. 10, when the OSPCA received a complaint of alleged animal cruelty.

Later that month, the agency laid five counts of animal cruelty against Marineland that related to the treatment of peacocks, guinea hens and black bears.

The OSPCA said at the time that more charges were pending.

“It was apparent there were additional charges that were appropriate,” Bluhm said Monday. “While the investigation is still ongoing, these are all the charges we expect to be laid in this case.”

Marineland said it had only learned of the new charges from media reports.

“We believe the OSPCA is continuing a publicity campaign at the behest of a band of discredited activists with little relevant expertise or knowledge,” the company said in a statement, calling the charges the “strangest” yet laid by the agency.

“We will hold the OSPCA to the high standards of Ontario’s legal system and require them to defend their charges to the fullest extent possible.”

None of the allegations or charges have been proven in court.