May 22nd, 2013

marinelandanimaldefense:

Marineland Animal Defense E-News: We Did It!

Hey all

We did it! We doubled the Guinness Origami Whale record for Vijay, we broke our previous demonstration record, held the second largest animal advocacy demonstration in Candian history (and largest since 1984!), we thundrerclapped Marineland and we sent a strong message back to Marineland that their lawyers and PR consultants don’t scare us!

The demonstration was an amazing record of the work that young advocates have been doing to help turn the tide on this issue, and also a symbolic passing of the torch - with Ric O’Barry continuing to inspire new generations of advocates.

We are still sorting through thousands of demonstration photos and video trying to compile a full record of the day. In the meantime, you can read about the demonstration from the Toronto Star and compare it with the coverage in Sun Media.
To all of the folks who have been supporting this campaign in any way you can - thank you! This would not be possible without thousands of advocates, worldwide, joining with us to keep the pressure and focus on this park.

What is next? Our next big demonstration is schedules for July 27th as part of the International Empty the Tanks Day - a global day of demonstrations outside of captive marine parks. Please make that date a priority! Aside from that, you will also want to mark October 13th down on your calendar - closing day for the 2013 season at Marineland. There will be more dates to come and many more events - but we want to give people advanced notice of this two key dates.

We will continue to build and continue to increase pressure. This means continuing to build the Stephen Watson Memorial Fund (a grassroots transition fund for animals at the park), launching a second website, creating an interactive and full online Marineland archive, increased social media presence and an increased presence at the park. More than ever, we need your help to continue to push us forward. If you can donate - please do. If you can become a monthly donor - a sustainer - please do. This is an all volunteer, grassroots campaign and 100% of all donations go directly into increasing pressure on this park. As little as $5 a month can go a long way if we all chip in.

Our demonstration this past Saturday, which featured youth advocates, showed that our future is bright. Together we will shut down this park and give the animals on site a second chance!

SHUT IT DOWN!



“There’s about as much educational benefit studying dolphins in captivity as there would be studying mankind by only observing prisoners held in solitary.” - Jacques Cousteau 


Donations
- we accept donations to our paypal: marinelandanimaldefense@gmail.com and can also arrange for cash/cheque pick up’s and drop off’s




May 15th, 2013
marinelandanimaldefense:

BREAKING: In his statement of defense ex-trainer Phil Demers has alleged that park veterinarians had given drugs, intended for animals, to employees and John Holer for their own personal use! Stay tuned as we release the full history of our complaint to the College of Veterinarians of Ontario on this exact point.

marinelandanimaldefense:

BREAKING: In his statement of defense ex-trainer Phil Demers has alleged that park veterinarians had given drugs, intended for animals, to employees and John Holer for their own personal use! Stay tuned as we release the full history of our complaint to the College of Veterinarians of Ontario on this exact point.

May 14th, 2013

brockanimalrights:

Hey there BARC-ers!
We are sending out this special e-mail to give an update about Marineland Animal Defence’s Opening Day Demo at Marineland in 4 DAYS on May 18th!
If you have not heard about M.A.D, you must have been living under a rock the past year. Marineland became international news when the Toronto Star released a series detailing abuse and neglect at the park. M.A.D has held several demonstration before and after that series broke. They expect this demo to be their largest one yet! Come out if you can! You do not want to miss this!
Need a ride? GET ON THE BUS!
There are several other ways you can support this campaign and help the animals at Marineland  :
1) Follow M.A.D on Social Media 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marinelandAD
 
2) Promote/ Share/ Re-tweet/ Invite
M.A.D releases an image every Tuesday for “Social Media Tuesday”. We have attached this weeks image. Share the heck out of it and invite all your friends to M.A.D’s opening day event page. 
3) Thunderclap on May 18th. Sign up all you Facebook and Twitter accounts to the Marineland Thunderclap. It’s easy, takes seconds, and will bum out animal abusers. 
That’s all for now, folks! Hope to se you all on Opening Day!
image
May 13th, 2013
marinelandanimaldefense:

Knowing the history of opposition to Marineland, as well as the history of opposition to animal captivity, is an important focus of this campaign. 
28 years ago today the MOVE Collective house was bombed by the Philadelphia Police Dept murdering 11, including 5 children.  In the history of the MOVE Collective, predominately known as a radical black liberationist collective, was a long history of protest against vivisection, dog breeding and animal captivity - including campaigns against the Philadelphia Zoo in the early 1970’s.  Their critique of captivity was broad and the tactics they were using to protest against it were way before their time.  Today we remember the MOVE collective, recognize their place in the history of opposing animal captivity, and recognize ourselves that the struggle to free other animals from captivity are never isolated struggles - they are a part of a broader struggle to live freely and to respect all life.  Free the Move 9! Free Mumia!  “All living beings, things that move, are equally important, whether they are human beings, dogs, birds, fish, trees, ants, weeds, rivers, wind or rain. To stay healthy and strong, life must have clean air, clear water and pure food. If deprived of these things, life will cycle to the next level, or as the system says, ‘die’.” - John Africa (MOVE).

marinelandanimaldefense:

Knowing the history of opposition to Marineland, as well as the history of opposition to animal captivity, is an important focus of this campaign.

28 years ago today the MOVE Collective house was bombed by the Philadelphia Police Dept murdering 11, including 5 children.

In the history of the MOVE Collective, predominately known as a radical black liberationist collective, was a long history of protest against vivisection, dog breeding and animal captivity - including campaigns against the Philadelphia Zoo in the early 1970’s.

Their critique of captivity was broad and the tactics they were using to protest against it were way before their time.

Today we remember the MOVE collective, recognize their place in the history of opposing animal captivity, and recognize ourselves that the struggle to free other animals from captivity are never isolated struggles - they are a part of a broader struggle to live freely and to respect all life.

Free the Move 9! Free Mumia!

“All living beings, things that move, are equally important, whether they are human beings, dogs, birds, fish, trees, ants, weeds, rivers, wind or rain. To stay healthy and strong, life must have clean air, clear water and pure food. If deprived of these things, life will cycle to the next level, or as the system says, ‘die’.” - John Africa (MOVE).
May 13th, 2013

May 18th Bus Information!

marinelandanimaldefense:

First off we want to thank everyone for their patience in waiting for this information! Now that it is up, please make sure you are at your location in advance. We will have bus captains at each stop that will help you get on board and help you with any questions or concerns on the day off. They will also be there looking to round people up on the day off - make sure you are present and visible!

We also still have room on these buses! So encourage friends and family to get on with you and help us fill them!

*We strongly suggest you arrive at your intended bus stop 15-20 minutes early.*


If you still need a ride, but are not on this bus route please post looking for rides on the demonstration event page.

Toronto / Hamilton / St. Catharines / Niagara Falls

Toronto (Keele Station) - 9:15am

Hamilton (Barton and May St. - Food Basics Parking Lot) - 10:10am

St. Catharines (258 Lake St. - Rexall Parking Lot) - 10:50am

Niagara Falls (Marineland - 7657 Portage Rd) - 11:25am

Leaves to return home from Marineland at 3pm.

Waterloo / Kitchener / Guelph / Niagara Falls

Waterloo (115 King St Uptown) - 8:15am

Kitchener (City Hall, Duke Street side) - 8:30am

Guelph (Church of Our Lady Immaculate - 28 Norfolk St) - 9:00am

Leaves to return home from Marineland at 4:30pm.

May 7th, 2013
weeptowaterthetrees:

marinelandanimaldefense:

This “Social Media Tuesday” we are bringing back a favorite of ours - the “Seal of Approval!” Share it with your friends and family and encourage them to join us for opening day on May 18th!

Shut em down.

weeptowaterthetrees:

marinelandanimaldefense:

This “Social Media Tuesday” we are bringing back a favorite of ours - the “Seal of Approval!” Share it with your friends and family and encourage them to join us for opening day on May 18th!

Shut em down.

April 27th, 2013

The Stephen Watson Memorial Fund

marinelandanimaldefense:

We are happy to announce a grassroots transition fund which we have been brainstorming around for months! The Stephen Watson Memorial Fund is a public savings account which will grow - as the pressure from this campaign continues to grow. The funds in that account will never be released unless Marineland or a future buyer agree to end captive breeding programs, end importation of new animals and agree to transition animals out of the facility. The funds will be used for transportation and care only - getting animals out of the park and set up in their new non-profit, rehab or sanctuary homes - and will never be used to pay the park for the animals. If Marineland ever does transition and instead sends their animals to another captive for profit park - then this fund transfers to another grassroots pressure campaign at a marine park and continues with the same purpose and the same funds.

This fund is a necessity as grassroots groups are tasked with building and keeping pressure on parks - however, when facilities crumble it is typical for larger non profits to swoop in and claim victory. They have the connections, resources and donors capable of such a move. It is a good thing that this is possible - but we want to build a grassroots fund where the thousands of people who oppose this park can actively donate to a fund to transition these animals. Where the transition of animals isn’t claimed by one wealthy donor and one organization - but by multiple organizations and thousands of people.

The decision to name this fund after a long time, dedicated ocean activist who we lost last year was an easy one. Stephen Watson, and his wife Renée, were an inspiration to the start of this campaign as well friends and mentors to many of the organizers. We wanted to do something substantive honour Stephen’s memory and to keep him with us as we continue to advocate for animals at this facility. Together we will build a fund, in Stephen’s name, that will hopefully one day remove the animals from this park to the care they deserve.

The fund was announced last night at our second anniversary dinner and launches with a generous anonymous donation of $1,500. We will be building a seperate page on this site to update the fund as it progresses and all donations made to the fund will be posted publicly (with names or anonymously). You can donate to this fund at demonstrations, by pick up or drop off in the Niagara Region, or online via paypal or email money transfer to marinelandanimaldefense@gmail.com with the note “Stephen Watson Memorial Fund.”

Below is a statement from Stephen’s wife, Renée Watson, on the fund.

Stephen was a man who believed in honour, integrity and living life authentically. He believed that all life had value and basic inherent rights, that being the right to live freely without imposition, oppression or fear. Although he felt this way for all sentient beings, he focused most of his energies towards increasing awareness of the plight of the oceans and the creatures living within.

Stephen was intimately connected to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society with his brother being Captain Paul Watson founder and director of this organization. Stephen’s gift as an artist was the way in which he could best support his brother’s organization, which he believed in so very much, and to bring attention to the loss and depletion of our oceans. He donated numerous art pieces to raise funds for organizations that focused their energies on keeping sea life safe and protected, in their natural environment.

The biggest affront to the largest of these ocean dwelling animals is the senseless slaughter, and perhaps worse, the capture and imprisonment of these majestic beings. MAD is a grassroots organization Stephen would be proud to be a part of. It would have given him great joy to see the end to theme parks that hold animals imprisoned, forced to entertain masses of humanity. Until that is a reality, naming this trust fund after him both honours him and keeps his presence in the struggle to shut down marine theme parks forever.

Oceans and the beings that live beneath the surface must be protected and allowed to replenish itself. For as Captain Paul would say, “if the oceans die, we die.”

Thank you
Sincerely Renée Watson.

image

April 22nd, 2013

marinelandanimaldefense:

Tomorrow’s “Social Media Tuesday” image comes from our supporter Michelle who took our origami image and turned it into a great demonstration poster. If you do not love Marineland you better like and reblog!

April 17th, 2013

marinelandanimaldefense:

Less than one hour away to being one moth away from the Opening Day Demonstration (May 18th). We are calling on folks to turn their profile picture/avatar to this origami whale image to mark that date! We will be posting different colours as well throughout the day tomorrow.

Keep it as your display picture for the day - or for the the entire month!

https://www.facebook.com/events/155401654604350/
April 17th, 2013

combatanimaltesting:

BROCK UNIVERSITY VIVISECTOR OF THE WEEK- JOFFRE MERCIER!

Professor Joffre Mercier’s research is primarily focused on the central nervous system of various animals. Mercier most often uses Invertebrate animals in his research (such as crayfish), which interestingly are not included under Brock University’s policy regarding animal use in laboratories.

“This policy covers all species of animals as defined by the CCAC guidelines, as amended from time to time, and the Animals for Research Act (Ontario), as amended from time to time. The definition of animal, for the purposes of this policy, shall normally mean a live, non-human vertebrate.”(quote taken from policy statement on animal care and use)

Reblogged from Combat Animal Testing
Loading tweets...

@NiagaraADL

Niagara ADL is a grassroots group in the Niagara Region who wish to end the domination of other animal species.