Marineland says charges result of activist pressure

Park claims OSPCA probe caused by former employee and an animal rights group

Marineland says an OSPCA investigation and animal cruelty charges are the result of pressure from a California-based animal rights group.

Last week, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) charged Marineland with five counts of animal cruelty. These charges were the result of a complaint that came from a former employee of the park.

“Marineland has learned that a recent inspection of Marineland’s facilities was prompted by pressure from Last Chance for Animals, a Los Angeles organization working with a fired former Marineland employee that is believed to be seeking revenge for his dismissal,” Marineland said in a media release on Tuesday. “The OSPCA’s actions in this matter, in bowing to pressure from activists and agenda-driven reporters, amounts to a scared regulator, with a track record of bowing to pressure.”

OSPCA spokesperson Alison Cross said the agency was were responding to a complaint.

“We responded to a cruelty complaint, and we work with anybody that reports a cruelty complaint,” Cross said. “That is our role under the legislation.”

The OSPCA doesn’t do our bidding, said Adam Wilson, director of investigations at Last Chance for Animals (LCA).

He added that LCA does not create laws or standards for animal care, but that all the non-profit asks for is enforcement of the existing animal cruelty laws.

“If Marineland considers this a radical agenda then their standards of care must be below that of what Ontario thinks is appropriate for exhibitors of animals,” he said.

Marineland’s statement pointed to a past investigation conducted by the LCA that is not connected to the current animal cruelty charges. Maineland said the LCA made “grossly false allegations in the past, including alleging the death of a baby beluga who is currently happy, healthy and alive.”

“It also appears they distorted and/ or photoshopped images to create false images to allege abuse,” the Niagara Falls-based amusement park said, referring to two separate incidents.

Wilson explained that LCA conducted a five-month investigation of Marineland over the summer and fall of 2015, where a baby beluga named Gia was filmed.

The beluga was in an emaciated condition and her ribs could be seen, he said.

“She was kept by herself and further videos that we provided to OSPCA documented her over many weeks where you could see her ribs and she was in an almost skeletal condition,” he said. “We never made the allegation that Gia died.”

However, another beluga born and died during the time of LCA’s investigation, Wilson noted.

“The trick with Marineland is that they don’t keep track of the animal deaths and don’t report the animal deaths,” he said. “So that was just hidden from the public — a baby beluga was born and then died later on and there’s no record of it.”

Marineland does not have a set policy on announcing the births or deaths of animals at Marineland, park officials told The Star.

Marineland’s statement attempts to explain the basis of the animal cruelty charges.

“We have previously outlined the basis of the allegations of abuse — that some edible produce stickers have accidentally been left on the fresh fruit and vegetables provided to our bears, that our guinea fowl pens were too small, and there was a benign growth over the eye of the peacock — and all of these issues have been corrected and the animals continue to thrive.”

Marineland’s board of directors face a $60,000 fine, up to two years in jail and a lifetime ban on owning animals.