Getting Sued for $1.5 Million Dollars by Marineland

[Gamerfaith]

Howdy Smart Canucks,

If you have a moment to read about my current plight, I would appreciate it.

Marineland is an amusement park located in Niagara Falls, Canada which has operated for years with marine and land animals as part of their attraction. In the last two decades, 20 beluga whales, 14 orca whales, and 6 dolphins have died at the park, all prematurely and these animals are buried in a mass grave at the back of the park. The park also has bears which are forced to beg for sugary corn pops from visitors, and deer who are shot by the owner instead of given proper vet care when they are sick. The park's last orca whale, Kiska, is forced to live in tiny, chlorine filled tank alone with no other whales to socialize with. She has watched all 5 of her babies die.

In the past couple of months, my husband has taken up the cause of protesting and passing out information about Marineland. The owner, John Holer has done everything in his power to stop his efforts and the efforts of other activists from leafleting outside the park. Holer and some of his employees have blocked their path, called the police, and threaten them with death and violence.

All this to avoid all the visitors to his park from learning the truth about how the animals are really treated behind closed doors.

Finally in a last attempt to silence my husband, Marineland has decided to sue him for $1.5 million dollars. They are also suing 4 other people - former Marineland staff members who spoke to the press about park, and one of the founding members of the Marineland Animal Defense. The newspaper, The Toronto Star, who picked up the news story is also being sued by Marineland.

Holer has been using his money and status for years to bully the little guy. He bought the Green Oaks trailer park in Niagara Falls in 2010, and evicted 47 families from their homes which resulted in the suicide of one resident, Paula Millard. This property which he so desperately required at the time, now sits vacant 3 years later.

My husband and I believe greatly in ending animal captivity and cruelty, and as such we refuse to back down from Mr. Holer just because he is trying to silence us with his scary lawsuit. Fighting this though will take a lawyer and money, two things which we don't have currently.

Thanks for listening to my unfortunate situation.

[Midnightly]

i'm sorry about your situation of being sued BUT i think it's against the rules of this site to post asking for money

[Jezebel]

Howdy Smart Canucks,

If you have a moment to read about my current plight, I would appreciate it.

Marineland is an amusement park located in Niagara Falls, Canada which has operated for years with marine and land animals as part of their attraction. In the last two decades, 20 beluga whales, 14 orca whales, and 6 dolphins have died at the park, all prematurely and these animals are buried in a mass grave at the back of the park. The park also has bears which are forced to beg for sugary corn pops from visitors, and deer who are shot by the owner instead of given proper vet care when they are sick. The park's last orca whale, Kiska, is forced to live in tiny, chlorine filled tank alone with no other whales to socialize with. She has watched all 5 of her babies die.

In the past couple of months, my husband has taken up the cause of protesting and passing out information about Marineland. The owner, John Holer has done everything in his power to stop his efforts and the efforts of other activists from leafleting outside the park. Holer and some of his employees have blocked their path, called the police, and threaten them with death and violence.

All this to avoid all the visitors to his park from learning the truth about how the animals are really treated behind closed doors.

Finally in a last attempt to silence my husband, Marineland has decided to sue him for $1.5 million dollars. They are also suing 4 other people - former Marineland staff members who spoke to the press about park, and one of the founding members of the Marineland Animal Defense. The newspaper, The Toronto Star, who picked up the news story is also being sued by Marineland.

Holer has been using his money and status for years to bully the little guy. He bought the Green Oaks trailer park in Niagara Falls in 2010, and evicted 47 families from their homes which resulted in the suicide of one resident, Paula Millard. This property which he so desperately required at the time, now sits vacant 3 years later.

My husband and I believe greatly in ending animal captivity and cruelty, and as such we refuse to back down from Mr. Holer just because he is trying to silence us with his scary lawsuit. Fighting this though will take a lawyer and money, two things which we don't have currently.

Thanks for listening to my unfortunate situation.

p'ming you

[Annatree]

sorry to hear about the suit. Is marine land taking action because the government, both sector, had investigate and dismissed the claims as unfounded? Not saying Mr. Holer is a great man but the claim against him could also be made about most zoos.

As with the trailer park, it was up for sale he brought it. It is now his to do with as he want. Maybe he/his company just wanted the land not to be manager of a housing organzition. Was residents given proper moving notice?

As for legal funds you guys have a few options, 1. Find a lawyer that specialize in animals rights (reach out to PETA, don't be afraid to ask for their advised) 2. Everyone been sue team up (Toronto star have in house lawyer, so they wouldn't team up) 3. Have the star do a follow up story that also mention that your group now need help.

[Chantel]

Get the news channels involved! CTV BC does a segment called Steele on your side which has an anchor investigate unjust and unfair stuff kinda like this. I'm sure your local stations have something similar. Get the media on your side! Call activism groups from near and far. Get anyone from any platform you can to be a voice, let everyone know! I'll share this info with friends.

I'm sorry the asshat owner thinks he should sue you for this, hope he gets just what he deserves for what he does to animals!

[Gamerfaith]

Sorry, didn't mean to over step on this one but you can see how this could be a bit frightening - $1.5 million dollars being held over our heads, so we were reaching out to all our social groups.

[anisa]

I went to marineland once and was appalled at how they kept and used the animals there.

they completely lost me when they officially referred to their Orcas as "killer whales".

i'm sorry that you are having to deal with your problem, but you need to retain a good lawyer.

[mcon]

unless there is an actual reason to sue for 1.5 million, it will just get thrown out...

[online]

Try contacting Avaaz.org... they usually help getting the word out!

[cheapNcheeky]

I have been to Marineland once in my life (I was a kid) and I don't ever plan on going back.

I don't support organizations like that.....whether it be 'swim with the dolphins' in the Mexico or elephant rides in Thailand. I've seen way too many documentaries about where those animals come from and how they are treated. I have seen an elephant being beaten with a metal rod with a hook at the end....right in front of me when I was visiting Thailand. It broke my heart. I knew at that very moment that I would never support businesses like that.

Watch 'The Cove' and you'll be changed forever...in a good way. Awareness is key.

[HappyCouponSaver78]

That is sad the animals are treated like that Go get the media involved and get help (countersuits usually are expensive but that was Napster suit Metallica vs. Fred Durst [remember that?]) good luck!

[MillieH]

This is a tough situation... as a customer taking my kids to an amusement park , I would toss handouts given to me by random strangers. As a person seeing something I thought I was wrong I would report it to the police or appropriate government area. As a person having bought land, I would believe I owned it and wouldnt expect that I should have to allow squators.. As a business owner operating within the guidelines of the law I wouldnèt expect to have my customers harrassed or have people trying to keep my customers from entering my business. I would ask certainly ask the people involved to stop and report them to the police if they didnèt. If they failed to stop I would take it to the courts.

If a business is operating illegally it is up to the courts and government agencies to inspect and respond accordingly. It is the citizens responsiblity to report it to these agencies but not to act as judge and jury and harrass the businesses.

Farmers raise animals in crowded inhumane conditions then murder them for people to eat. Fishermen drag nets to scoop fish out of the ocean, dropping them in the hold where they all die together.. so we can have fish and chips.. The list is endless.. for some reason this is all legal.. People canèt come to your house and call you a murderer because you may have eaten something that should be left alive.. it has to be done through legal avenues not through harrassment of a business or person.
The lawsuit is the last resort of this man who has asked that your husband stop, reported him to police.. he has no other legal avenue open to him. He had no choice. This maybe gives your husband the opportunity to share the proof he has that this man is operating illegally and opens it up for all to see in a court of law.

[Gamerfaith]

@ MillieH

The people at Green Oaks Trailer park were not squators. They were people who purchased their permanent trailers like you would a house and John Holer lied to everyone when he bought the property claiming he wasn't planning to change anything - he even let a family buy a new trailer there. Later on he announces he has the permits to go ahead and use the property for his maintenance buildings (another lie, never had them) and so he serves eviction notices to the residents. They fought against him to keep their homes and the city refused to use the laws available to help them. He would ride through the park at all hours of the day, harassing them and pushing them to leave. Some of the people there were retired seniors, people with disabilities, and one woman was sick with cancer. In the end, a woman took her own life because she had nowhere to go but her home at that park. There are people from that park who are still paying money on the homes they no longer have. But that's just business, right? Who cares if business throws people out on the street?

That eviction happened in 2010. That lot where Green Oaks was, it was still full of the trailers up until only a couple of months ago, when the city ordered Mr. Holer to clean it up. It is still vacant. He owns hundreds of unused acres at Marineland and somehow he needed these 6 extra acres so desperately that is just sits empty!

As for the proof that John Holer and Marineland are guilty of animal captivity, cruelty and more, you can easily read about the truth from the Toronto Star - www.thestar.com/marineland. Problem is though we live in a country where the law does not protect zoo or marine animals. You can charge a man for shooting his dog, but not for shooting his deer and leaving it to slowly die a horrible, painful death. You cannot charge a man for housing bears in a tiny pen with filthy water and feeding them an inappropriate diet of pop corns. You cannot charge a man for blinding his seal lions, or allowing his whales to die alone in tiny tank in a warehouse.

I believe in standing up for what is wrong in the world. The police haven't arrest any of us for protesting because they know we are in the right here. We do nothing illegal and if Mr. Holer wasn't doing anything wrong he wouldn't do everything in his power to stop the truth from getting out. The lawsuit is just a scare tactic - he is using it to silence the Toronto Star from their investigations, 3 ex-employees from reporting the truth and 2 activists from providing the truth to visitors. These are not the actions of an innocent man.

Maybe next time you should try reading those handouts before you toss them. People should have both sides of the situation before making up their minds. I use to go to Marineland too but something always seemed wrong about that place so I stopped. My thoughts were confirmed when I read the Toronto Star investigations, and when I heard one of the former trainers talk about his time at the park. Talk about how they abused the animal he trained, a walrus named Smooshie - it was like hearing a person talk about their pet being abused before their eyes and they were powerless to stop it.

Nothing is happy about Marineland and I am glad I live in a country where I can at least freely speak out against monsters like John Holer. The laws are not there for those animals, so we have to be until the laws are changed.

[lecale]

.

[toban]

I have never been to Marineland. I agree it's inhumane to keep orcas and other marine creatures in pools. When I was a child I was thrilled at the thought of seeing orcas, dolphins etc in captivity. I didn't realize the suffering as a child.These animals belong in the wild. The only advice I can think of is to contact newspapers and tv stations.