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Confederation of Canadian Humane Societies Position Statement on Marineland

Below is the full Position Statement Posted on the CFHS website which can be found here.

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.