There are some John Holer meme’s starting to go around on twitter right now…
Stay tuned, we’ll gather up our favourites!YES
ACTION ALERT: CONTACT Madeleine Meilleur to visit Marineland with ex-trainer Phil Demers
Liberal MPP and Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Madeleine Meilleur’s tears have quickly dried as she has turned to protecting industry assets; smearing trainers in the press for not going directly to the OSPCA with their complaints - they did - and also promoting a tour she plans to take of Marineland. She defends the industry saying“Zoos are very appealing to visitors and to public in general. Often it’s the only way they can see exotic animals – as long as (animals) are well treated and well cared for.
“As kids we enjoy going to the zoo, and I’m told Marineland’s parking lot is very full most of the time. That shows you that people love to go, and I am supportive of that. It’s a great tourist attraction – with the caveat that we need to be certain the animals are looked after.”
We are calling on the pubic to contact Madeleine Meilleur to urge her to visit the park with ex-employees beside her. Ex-employees have been shut out of this “investigative” process as industry and profits have taken precedence over animal care. This must end. Please contact her and cc any marinelandanimaldefense@gmail.com with any correspondence.
Community Office237 Montreal Road
Vanier, Ottawa, ONK1L 6C7Tel: 613.744.4484Fax: 613.744.0889Email: mmeilleur.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services18th Floor,25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, ONM7A 1Y6Tel: 416-326-5000Toll Free: 1-866-517-0571Fax: 416-325-6067
Store now open!
We have officially launched our “store”
Basically you can donate to us and receive some packs of stickers and postcards to distribute in your area, while helping us afford the design and printing of new cards, pamphlets and stickers! Let’s keep getting the information out as much as we can! People can only get involved if they know what’s up!
Form Letter - Adam Vaughan - Re: The Toronto Star Article
[SCRIPT]
Dear Adam Vaughan,
I am a concerned citizen who is writing you in regards to your recent comments on the Star article about the Ripley’s Aquarium. That you would be supportive of a facility that has made no secret it’s intention to capture wild animals from their natural ocean environment, and then contain them in tanks and aquariums that are mere fraction of the size of their original homes is disheartening. Animals in aquariums have been shown to suffer tremendously while in captivity. In studies out of the UK it was noted that up to 70% of wild caught reef fish could die in their first captive year from stress and disease. With Ripley’s hoping to have 13,000 fish in their facility, which could be upwards of 9000 fish that will die in their care annually.
I am asking you to please reconsider your position on the Toronto Aquarium. As a politician, it is understood that you may not feel comfortable denouncing the aquarium publically, and though we would be pleased for you to do so, it would be equally helpful for you to not speak positively about it in media and public conversations.
Public perception is beginning to shift about animals in captivity. With each passing year more and more people are opposed to caging and holding animals in captivity for marginal (at best) educational benefit. I would like to remind you that the more you speak positively about this facility now, the more foolish you will look when the condition of these animals is exposed in the coming months and years, as it most certainly will be. I would like to ask you to please side with the animals, the compassionate community members who are in your riding and beyond and concerned citizens like myself who see this facility for what it really is: A cruel and archaic form of entertainment, poorly veiled as conservation and education.
If you are interested in finding out more about the building Aquarium Resistance in Toronto please check out the folks at The Toronto Aquarium Resistance Alliance (TARA) and they will surely help you find all the information you may desire on the subject. In addition you can speak to the good folks at Zoocheck and the activists at the Marineland Animal Defense (M.A.D.) All of these groups would be happy to provide resources for you if you’d like to understand better why captive animal entertainment will never be a boon to a city like Toronto. We would be better off without the aquarium, and in time even those supportive of it now will see that. This is an opportunity for you to do the right thing from the start. We’d love welcome you into our compassionate community as an ally.
Sincerely,
(Your name)
——————————————————————————————-
[CONTACT INFORMATION]
Adam Vaughan @ Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West, Suite C50
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
Phone: 416-392-4044
Fax: 416-392-4130
councillor_vaughan@toronto.ca
Councillor Vaughan’s website:
www.ward20.ca
Executive Assistant
Ange Kinnear
416-392-3354
akinnear@toronto.ca
Do you want to show solidarity with the Toronto Aquarium Resistance Alliance? We now have a Facebook banner you can download!
Hamilton Spectator Coverage: Inside Marineland
“What the public doesn’t see is the deterioration of marine mammals that become sick, suffer fur loss, skin damage and even blindness because of recurring water problems, they say.
They also point to chronic staffing shortages that leave trainers unable to provide a minimum standard of care for animals to do well in captivity.”
[…]
” • On May 28, baby beluga Skoot died after a two-hour assault by two adult male belugas in an incident former trainers say points to understaffing at the park. The evening attack unfolded in front of a guide untrained and helpless to intervene. The males bit Skoot’s head and body, spun her around by the tail and bashed her into a rock wall where she stuck. After two trainers finally arrived to pull Skoot out of the pool, she convulsed and died in their arms.Holer says Skoot was attacked because she had contracted bacterial meningitis, explaining: “If animals see another animal is going to die, they kill it.”
• Five female dolphins — Sonar, Lida, Marina, Echo and Tsu — swam almost continuously in bad water in a concrete pool in a facility called the barn. Former employees say they lay at the bottom in murky green water or breached and thrashed wildly, their reactions changing with the chemicals. Their skin fell off in chunks, their colour darkened and they refused to eat. This lasted intermittently for eight months, from October 2011 until just before show season began in May 2012 when their water was changed.
There are other problems at the facility. Walruses, which crave attention in captivity, are confined sporadically in cramped, waterless pens. Since November 2011, the park has kept a lone orca (killer whale), a practice banned in the United States because the complex, highly social mammals require the company of their own species. Six of the park’s seven seals are blind, have impaired vision or have had serious eye problems because of exposure to unhealthy water, former trainers say.
One trainer recalls how animals often squinted at trainers and struggled to perform after chlorine spikes in the stadium pool.
Poor conditions drove some of the eight former employees to leave and were a major factor in the departure of others.”
ANIMAL ABUSERS — LEAVE TOWN!
Marineland Expose in The Star: "Marineland Animals Suffering, Former Staffers Say"
“After the first day of green water, “the animals were in hell,” including walruses, Demers said. Smooshi had a wildly inflamed flipper, which a veterinarian said was a “chemical burn,” and Sonja’s ulcerated eye worsened. “All the animals showed signs of damage. This was one of the worst states I’ve ever seen them in.” The situation was particularly acute for the five dolphins, which, unlike sea lions, seals and walruses, are unable to pull themselves from the water. The supervisor recalls many times when the dolphins were so dark and the water so green, they were barely visible. Photos show dolphins with eyes squeezed shut.”
[…]
“Five female dolphins — Sonar, Lida, Marina, Echo and Tsu — swam almost continuously in bad water in a concrete pool in a facility called the barn. Former employees say they lay at the bottom in murky green water or breeched and thrashed wildly, their reactions changing with the chemicals. Their skin fell off in chunks, their colour darkened and they refused to eat. This lasted intermittently for eight months, from October 2011 until just before show season began in May 2012 when their water was changed.”- Toronto Star — August 15, 2012
NO REST FOR ANIMAL ABUSERS! JOHN HOLER SHOULD NEVER SLEEP AGAIN AS LONG AS THE DOORS OF MARINELAND ARE OPEN. FOR SHAME!!!
REBLOG UNTIL YOUR HANDS ARE NUMB!



