Canadian Watchdog Group Responds To Ontario Proposals To Strengthen Marine Mammal Protection Standards

(A Brief Foreword by NAL publisher Doug Draper – In a commentary I posted this January 30^th, 2015 on hopeful signs that we may finally have a senior level of government – this one being the government of Premier Kathleen Wynne in Ontario – that will earnestly raise the bar when it comes to caring for whales and other marine mammals in the custody of Marineland in Niagara Falls and other zoo and amusement parks in Ontario, I made a few sorry omissions on parties who should be credited for finally getting us to this point.

One of many rallies over the years in front of Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario. File photo by Doug Draper

I mentioned a few dedicated individuals and groups like Dan Long, Dan Wilson and Catherine Ens and long-time members of Niagara Action for Animals or NAFA for short. But I failed to mention critically key individuals like Dr. Naomi Rose, a renowned marine biologist from the United States, Dr. Paul Spong, a scientist specializing in marine mammal research in British Columbia, and Zoocheck Canada – most particularly Rob Laidlaw and Julie Woodyer from that time-honoored animal advocacy group that have all called for Canada and Ontario to show more respect for these great mammals through humane policy initiatives for decades now. 

I also want to mention Cara Sands and to Duke, a 29-year-old dolphin and possibly the oldest dolphin in captivity in Canada, she fought to be freed from Marineland up to the time Duke’s death, and to Ric O’Barry, a former trainer for the 1960s TV show Flipper, about an entertaining dolphin, and author of the later book ‘Behind the Dolphin Smile’ who also advocated, all those years ago, for Duke’s release to a cove in Florida.

All of these individuals and groups and more deserve more credit than they are getting from some for getting us to a place where Ontario is now promising to bring in a higher level of regulations and programs for protecting marine mammals in captivity.

What this Niagara At Large reporter and publisher hopes Wynne’s government also does is include a balanced number of representatives from Zoocheck and outside experts like Drs. Rose and Spong to sit on the committee it is setting up to set the new rules. If the committee is largely made up of individuals aligned with the vested interests of the aquarium, zoo and amusement park industry, including veterinarians and biologists receiving compensation from that industry, the entire exercise may unfortunately be written off as a farce. More on that later. 

Now here is the very timely and important response to the Ontario announcement on this issue from Zoocheck.)

A Statement from the animal advocacy group Zoocheck Canada

January 2015 – Zoocheck is encouraged by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (MCSCS) announcement regarding marine mammals in captivity in Ontario.

Duke, possibly one of the oldest dolphins to survive in captivity in North America, resided at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Efforts to have him live his final years in a cove in Florida failed.

The two part announcement outlined Minister Yasir Naqvi’s intention to introduce a bill prohibiting the breeding and importation of killer whales (orcas) and the development of new enhanced standards of care for marine mammals in captivity.

• Zoocheck believes the proposed legislation to prohibit the breeding and importation of killer whales is a positive step forward in addressing the issues faced by killer whales in captivity and hopes that Ontario’s announcement will spur other North American jurisdictions to follow their lead.
• Zoocheck welcomes the proposed new standards development process and strongly encourages the Government of Ontario to pursue standards based on the behavioural ecology and natural history of marine mammals.
• Zoocheck does not support the recommendation of the report Developing Standards of Care for Marine Mammals in Captivity and Recommendations Regarding How Best to Ensure the Most Humane Treatment of Captive Cetaceans, developed by a panel headed by Dr. David Rosen, that the Guidelines on the Care and Maintenance of Captive Marine Mammals, established by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC), be adopted as they are largely aspirational and inadequate to address the core challenges faced by marine mammals in captivity.

Zoocheck looks forward to cooperating with the Government of Ontario and other relevant parties in the development of standards of housing and care for captive marine mammals that substantively address the challenges marine animals face and that are in step with the compassionate views of the majority of Ontarians.

Zoocheck is a national animal protection charity (#13150 2072 RR 0001) established in 1984 to promote and protect the interests and well-being of wild animals.

Zoocheck works to improve wildlife protection and to end the abuse, neglect and exploitation of individual wild animals through:

• investigation and research
• public education and awareness campaigns
• capacity building initiatives
• legislative actions
• litigation

For more info on Zoocheck and the animal advocacy work it is doing click on http://www.zoocheck.com/about.html .

For the last post Niagara At Large posted on this issue click on https://niagaraatlarge.com/2015/01/30/ontario-government-should-set-a-total-ban-on-keeping-marine-mammals-in-captivity/ .

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