A Commentary by Doug Draper
This Thanksgiving weekend in Canada is also the last open weekend of the year at Marineland.
Marineland? You may have heard of the place given that ubiquitous jingle so many mainstream radio and television stations have been making a big advertising bucks off for the last 20 or 30 years – the jingle that says ‘everyone loves Marineland’. – and animal activists are determined to make the weekend one the owners and operators of the sprawling Niagara Falls, Ontario amusement park will never forget.
In the wake of two months of stories spearheaded by Toronto Star investigative reporter Linda Diebel, highlighting charges raised by former Marineland trainers and other employees of animal mal-treatment at the park, a Niagara-based citizens group called Marineland Animal Defense is leading up a protest rally this coming Sunday, October 7 it is hoping will be the largest in more than 20 years.
The rally, to take place along the shoulder of Portage Road in front of Marineland from 12 to two p.m., follows rallies of more than 200 protesters this August and will feature a line-up of music and speakers, including former Marineland trainer Phil Demers, Ontario NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo, who has been pressing for tougher provincial legislation to protect animals in commercial zoos and aquariums, and Ric O’Barry, whose decades-long fight to protect dolphins was featured in the recent Academy Award-winning documentary ‘The Cove’.
O’Barry is hardly new to the Marineland issue. The trainer of dolphins for the 1960s American television show ‘Flipper’ and author of a moving book called ‘Behind the Dolphin Smile’ on his personal journey from marine mammal trainer to activist fighting against keeping these great creatures of the sea in captivity, came here to speak for an aging dolphin named Duke at Marineland.
O’Barry was working for some compassion for Duke with Cara Sands, then director of He came to Niagara in the 1990s with Cara Sands, then director of a citizens group called Friends of the Dolphins and still a Toronto area animal activist who will be joining the rally this October 7.
“Duke was approximately 29 years old when I started fighting for a proper rehabilitation for him,” said Sara Sands in a note to this NAL journalist this October 4. “That was in 1990. He was caught off the coast of Mexico (as far as I know) and by the time I found him languishing in Marineland’s “animal barnyard” building, he was mainly used to train freshly-captured dolphins. According to ex-trainers, he was routinely “beat up upon” by other, more aggressive dolphins. Ric O’Barry said he was “one of the worst cases he had ever seen.”
Duke the Dolphin living out his final days in captivity at Marineland. Photo courtesy of Cara Sands
“Duke died somewhere around 1993-1994. Contrary to what Marineland claims, all we asked for was that Duke be allowed a transfer to a proper rehabilitation facility where he could live out the remainder of his life in peace and dignity. We were denied, over and over.”
That is one sad note from a lady who has remained consistent in her opposition for keeping great mammals like dolphins and whales in captivity for more than two decades now. I recall interviewing Sand and Ric O’Barry when I was still covering environmental issues at the late, great St. Catharines Standard about two decades ago and when I finally got through to Marineland owner John Holer for a response all he could do was tell me that O’Barry was only up here because he wants to sell his book.
Well, O’Barry is coming back, long after his book is out of print for all I know (yet you might want to do an online search for Behind the Dolphin Smile if it is not) and so is Cara Sands and possibly hundreds of others who have been protesting the continued keeping of marine mammals and land animals like bears and deer in this park for a long, long time now.
What is so telling in the midst of this is a report released in recent days by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA), a special interest group for zoos like Marineland that spends most of its time promoting commercial zoo interests and lobbying against stronger laws for protecting the animals its members confine. This report gives Marineland an all but clean bill of health, except for maybe improving the quality of water a little bit for the animals imprisoned there. There is hardly a mention of the deer and bears – particularly disgusting given an ongoing photo and video record of the conditions for these poor creatures in this park.
At the end of it all, what is disgusting to me is how so much of the mainstream media in Niagara, especially media outlets like the Niagara Falls Review and St. Catharines Standard that have spent most of the past decade and a half years publishing the next best thing to infomercials for Marineland on its news pages (let’s name the new baby beluga whale and all of that crap), has made the CAZA findings a lead story, as if this outfit that is in bed with Marineland and all its other members, is going to present an objective analysis of the conditions for animals in that park.
What is even more disgusting is the record of Ontario Liberal government is the record of Ontario Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur, who admitted in an interview with The Toronto Star this first week of October that she did not know that under the Ontario Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) Act, that anybody that has their animals under a veterinarian’s care, is not subject to the act.
This same Dalton McGuinty minister – doesn’t he pick dandy ones- had the nerve to say, after reading a couple of the first Toronto Star stories on the charges of animal mis-care at Marineland that she was moved to tears. Obviously those tears have not translated into any firm action, other than letting vested interests like CAZA and the OSPCA which had its Niagara Falls humane society building largely paid for by Marineland owner John Holer, do the investigation on Marineland.
Someone like that, who has such little knowledge of the loopholes in the laws she is supposed to be governing over, should be fired out of the job. Anyone else paid more than $100,000 a year, not to mention the generous perks, to know what they are doing, would be.
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views below. Please remember that NAL only posts comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.)
Niagara At Large 
Thank you Doug, for your support of the captives, and for keeping the Marineland protests and related issues in the public eye! (If my name posts as Lolita Tokitae, one of my blogs is in honour of her, still captive in the Miami Seaquarium – 42 years last August 8 – though Orca Network has tried for decades to get her home to a sea pen in the San Juans where her family still swims. My real name is Diane McNally.)
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For a point of clariifcation regarding the Coates Animal shelter, I was at the grand opening of the original Coates Shelter and got a pet cat at that time, it was on land next to the John Allen Park where my wife and young kids used to have picnics, this was located on Stanley Avenue South near the new bridge over the Chippawa Creek.,several years later John Holer wanted to buy that park which used to belong to Chippawa and now belonged to Niagara Falls via forced amalgamation,1971.The City sold the park for a steal I believe 250.000 dollars, ( it might have been a little higher) but not much,.because the Animal shelter was new and next to the park John Holer offered to buy the place and facilitate a move to it’s present location, the benefits served John Holer more, than the Coats Animal Shelter, thats my opinion, I lived right by the place so I feel that I am correct.
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Great!!!
More FREE publicity for MarineLand.
And a gathering of Cultists to buy O’Barry’s book.
Everybody wins this one.
$ $ $
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You protesters and Phil have given MarineLand millions of dollars of free advertizing…
You have brought MarineLands name up on the front page of many national papers all over.
This is free advertizing for MarineLand.
Yes other Save the Whale Cultists will agree with you. (but they are a minority)
But the most of the people that read the articles just see a disgruntled employee stirring up the press and Cultists Do Gooders, and are reminded that MarineLand exists and reminds them to go and see it.
The only reason O’Barry is coming is for the free national advertisement of his book.
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A ‘disgruntled employee’ William? There were about 10 former employees who came forward along with pics and video evidence and yet you continue to deny that NOTHING is wrong with Marineland. Now, if these employees, or according to your math (which is not very good) one employee that is disgruntled, what are they disgruntled about? Can you answer that because guess what, Marineland won’t and cannot say they are disgruntled employees because they have no case that they are. In fact, Holer and M.L. have refused to talk to any media outlet since the crap hit the fan and are hoping that by saying nothing it goes away. You do realize that this is nothing new, do you William? In fact, it has been going on for 20+ years with various complaints launched at the NFHS and the OSPCA with zero results. The only reason it has blown up now was because the Star had the balls to print it with the evidence and testimony of credible ex-employees, not disgruntled ones. For the record, I am not some ‘bleeding heart leftie’ as I don’t agree wtih everything the Star publishes, but this story really struck a nerve with me as it pisses me off when children and animals are abused, those that cannot defend themselves. But what really pisses me off are trolls like yourself who continue to deny any wrongdoing even when the evidence is right there….in your face.
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Like, what will it take for our legislators to actually hold Marineland accountable for its acts, as cited in the Toronto Star with pictures, witnesses and testimony already provided? This latest report from the Standard suggests that Marineland might have culled the crop of animals that appear sick or injured to shield their conditions under the Ontario Veterinary Act (which in my view, may or may not be applicable). If these animals were under the care of vets, how come these pictures were showing something different, and the testimony of the people and reports in the media suggest there wasn’t a whole lot of veterinary care provided, at least in a timely manner?
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Slight correction to a wonderful article.
“Niagara-based citizens group called Marineland Animal Defense is leading up a protest rally this coming Sunday”
While a number of groups, including the one noted, will be protesting at Marineland on the same day Ric O’Barry, MPP Cheri DiNovo and Phil Demers are scheduled to appear, they are not heading up the event. The event was organized and being sponsored by International Marine Mammal Project, Earth Island Institute and Save Japan Dolophins and are not associated with or affiliated to the local groups who will be in attendance.
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Doug, right on … good move on our possible troll from Marineland. If he wants something to say, I wish he was at least going to dissent in an intelligent, non ranting manner.
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Angela, I have no idea what you just wrote. Can you say it again in plain English so we all know what you are saying please.
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As a bystander who has been following this for weeks, I am not even convinced that the protesters themselves have talked to each other and figured out what they are protesting. Some of them are upset because they think that the animals are being mistreated at Marineland and some of them believe that no wild animals should be kept in captivity and places like Marineland should be closed. This is the stand of O’Barry, from what I have read. So what exactly is this group of protesters protesting and in carrying out their protest, what would satisfy them; is it appropriate care of the animals in captivity or that all the captive wild animals should be set free? I agree with Mr. Boyd. He has called this protest group a “cult” only because they are banded together protesting, but it appears that they have not even talked among themselves and agreed on what they are protesting and what outcome they are hoping to achieve. They seem to just be following each other. I saw signs at the protest, when I drove by, that state things like “Marineland is a Death Camp”, “Whales belong in the Ocean”, “Why do Whales keep Dying Here?”, “Captivity means Slavery”, “Save the Dolphins, they need your Help”, “End Captivity”, “Marineland Hurts Animals”, “Shame”. “Evil, John Holer’s Heart”, “Your Fun is my Torture”, “Freedom”, “Tanks, no Thanks”, “Whales Suffer and Die Here”, “Goodbye Putin” and “Stop Hurting my Friends”. I would appreciate being enlightened by someone as to what this group is really protesting and what they hope to accomplish from this protest to know they were successful – is it healthy animals in captivity or all the animals released to the wild?.
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What I suspect the organizers for at least one group of protestors (MAD) is hoping to accomplish is a lot of sales from t-shirts. While Demers and O’Barry have their heart in the right place and a legitimate cause, it is sad that not all those who claim to be fighting this issue have the same agenda. It is important that neither Demers nor O’Barry are viewed to be associated with them in any way.
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Winston; not all people protesting will have exactly the same point of view…that is not unusual. There were between 500 and 800 people there according to press & police; just because people go to a demo, doesnot mean they will all agree about all issues, nor about the one to hand. Some people believe that animals in captivity need to be treated much better and others believe that they should not be in captivity at all. The unified message today was that animals sure don’t belong in that place.
As for Phil Demers – he was not a “disgruntled” employee – he LEFT the employ of Marineland. The only thing he is disgruntled about is the inept, cruel treatment of animals in that facility. And William, go talk to John Holer and see if this is the kind of “free advertising” that he enjoys – especially those page long articles in the Star …bet he really enjoyed those…the piece about his employee being told to kill an injured deer with a carving knife – i’m sure that and other revealed information is bound to bring him a lot of extra business…yes, maybe from psychopaths…
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These protests have been going on since the early 1990’s and for anybody to think they’re hollering about a whole lot of nothing needs to read the Toronto Star series on Marineland, which started about August 15 of this year. The Toronto Star published photographs, copies of water quality logs, supervisor’s notes and videos from the ex-employees. They did not hold a grudge, as many of them worked there for many years trying to make a change from the inside, but have been unsuccessful. Whether people want to stop the captivity of animals – period – or want to have heavy duty regulations at this point is immaterial. At this point, we have neither and as Ric O’Barry said in his interview to the press conference was that Marineland was one of the worst marine parks he has seen.
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Thank you Doug for having the intelligence and courage to report with integity what you see in person when you attend the marineland protests. To those who believe this is a new cult activity I’d like to know if your head was stuck in some smelly place for more than the past 3 decades? It has been more than 30 years since my mother began taking me and my siblings to protest the inhumane conditions for creatures inprisoned and enslaved at marineland. These protests have included many organizations attendance and support over the decades. My mother is gone now but 4 generations of my family continue to protest because we do have 25 year old videos of horrible, cruel activity at marineland. Now, finally, because of the dedication and organizing fetes of some younger people and the courage of many ex-staff of the abusement park there is fantastic progress being made. The Marineland Animal Defence group includes members from Niagara Action for Animals and members of the Brock Animal Rights Coalition and many other like minded determined souls. Those of us who have seen the unacceptable medical and famine related condition many of these animals are suffering with cannot and will not stop until justice prevails and these creatures are retired to a safe and caring sanctuary tp live out the rest of their lives with care and respect. The owner should be arrested, jailed and caged for neglect, cruel abuse and murder. Schools should be sanctioned for child abuse when they take class outings that subject children to animal abuse. We live in the 21st century where there are intelligent ways to teach without causing suffering to other species. I am extremely proud and grateful for the younger people who organize these protests and I trust them to continue to right the wrongs long after I am gone. I know that when justice prevails it will be because of their dedication to educate and inform that cruelty is not an acceptable way to educate or entertain. They are the hope for the future.
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Hi Patricia I am doing a documentary on the animal abuse that goes on at marineland and would like to know if you could email me?
marinelanddoc@gmail.com
Thank You,
Letara Couto
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We live in the 20th century where people are not arrested, jailed, caged for neglect or cruel abuse and murder just because you say so. Displaying this type of attitude makes you no better than those you oppose.
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