Marineland ordered to pay $85k after 3 bears kept in cramped quarters for months
Global News
Marineland has been ordered to pay nearly $85,000 after it was found guilty under Ontario’s animal cruelty laws of three charges related to its care of black bears.
Marineland has been ordered to pay nearly $85,000 in fines and restitution after it was found guilty under Ontario’s animal cruelty laws of three charges related to its care of three black bears.
The amount, which was jointly proposed by lawyers for the Crown and Marineland, includes a $15,000 fine for each of the bears, a 25-per-cent victim surcharge and $28,000 in restitution for the care of the bears after they were seized by animal welfare officers.
The Niagara, Ont., tourist attraction was found guilty in March in what’s believed to be its first conviction under animal-cruelty laws.
An agreed statement of facts read in court earlier this year said the bears – Slash, Toad and Lizzy – lived in small enclosures with inadequate access to water for months.
It said the enclosures measured 48 square feet, with the two females, Toad and Lizzy, sharing one.
The statement said animal welfare inspectors visited Marineland in early June 2021 and soon issued orders to the park, including that the bears have enclosures of at least 5,000 square feet if alone and access to water sources.
Not enough progress had been made on the enclosures months later, court heard Thursday in an updated statement, and Animal Welfare Services eventually removed all three bears from the park’s care.
A lawyer representing Marineland told the court Thursday the orders were issued during the COVID-19 pandemic and it was difficult to find staff to do the carpentry work required to improve the enclosures, but that efforts were underway at the time the bears were removed.
