By Doug Draper
In the strongest statement it has ever posted on the issue, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies is speaking out against the confinement of whales and other marine mammals at amusement parks like Marineland in Ontario.
One of a number of protest rallies in front of Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Photo by Doug Draper
The CFHS (believes that the conferment of marine mammals causes physical and/or mental pain and suffering, therefore fails to meet their health, behavioral and environmental needs,” reads the statement by the national organization which goes on to support a complete ban on parks like Marineland importing whales caught in the wild for exhibition.
While animal activists in Niagara and elsewhere – many of whom have been calling for the end of end of keeping marine mammals in captivity or years – are greeting the CFHS statement as good news, it is important to note that the 55-year-old animal welfare organization, representing humane societies and Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals agencies across Canada, has no regulatory jurisdiction over zoos and aquarims at commercial parks like Marineland. It can only appeal to the provincial and federal governments to take action.
The CFHS statement follows a series of articles in The Toronto Star, detailing charges made by former trainers and other Marineland employees about the mistreatment of animals at the park. Marineland spokespersons, including the park’s founder John Holer and its veterinary services director Dr. June Mergi, have countered that the park’s animals are well cared for.
Niagara At Large is posting the entire CFHS statement below:
“The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS) believes that the confinement of marine mammals causes physical and/or mental pain and suffering therefore fails to meet their health, behavioural and environmental needs.
The recent expose in the Toronto Star is the next in a long history of complaints about the welfare conditions at Marineland in Ontario.
The CFHS looks forward to the results of the OSPCA investigation. Furthermore, the CFHS is calling on Marineland to allow a team of marine mammal experts to review the animals housed within their facility.
The CFHS supports a complete ban on the importation of wild caught marine mammals into Canada. Since 1999 Marineland has imported 36 wild belugas from Russia. Eight as recently as 2008.
The CFHS supports strong laws and regulations to protect animals in Ontario’s aquariums and zoos – system that requires permits, creates standards of animal management, care and safety that evolve with the times, incorporates punitive measures for non-compliance and gives the public a legitimate way for their complaints to be considered and addressed.
Models for this kind of regulatory system exist in other jurisdictions and they have already been developed in Ontario but never implemented.”
To learn more about the Humane Societies of Canada visit the organization’s website at – http://cfhs.ca/ .
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post below. NAL only posts comments from individuals who also share their first and last names.)
Niagara At Large 
As long as Marineland is a cash cow for Niagara Falls nothing will happen. If you haven’t noticed, money is the driving force of society. Screw compassion, the environment, human and animal rights, and on and on.
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We should be abolishing animal slavery and exploitation, not regulating it.
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