{"id":286566,"date":"2025-10-08T13:03:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286566\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T13:03:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:03:11","slug":"canadas-marineland-threatens-to-kill-30-beluga-whales-if-emergency-government-funding-isnt-approved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286566\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada’s Marineland threatens to kill 30 beluga whales if emergency government funding isn’t approved"},"content":{"rendered":"

A defunct marine park in Canada threatened to slaughter its remaining 30 beluga whales if the federal government doesn\u2019t fork over emergency funding to care for the animals by Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Marineland, an aquatic theme park in Niagara Falls that shuttered last year, said it will be forced to euthanize the whales after Fisheries Minister Joanna Thompson blocked its plan to send them to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China, according to the New York Times. <\/a><\/p>\n

Thompson denied the export permit, saying the whales would continue to remain in captivity and exploited for entertainment \u2014 but park officials claimed they no longer have the money to care for them.<\/p>\n

Marineland threatened to slaughter the 30 beluga whales if the federal government didn\u2019t fork over funds. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do not receive a response by that date, we will have no choice to presume that the answers to our inquiries are negative,\u201d the park demanded in a letter to fisheries officials Friday, warning that the animals\u2019 demise would be \u201ca direct consequence of the minister\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson fired back Monday, rejecting the request and slamming the park \u2014 which closed in 2024 amid falling attendance and animal abuse allegations \u2014 for failing to plan proper care for the whales. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that Marineland has not planned for a viable alternative despite raising these whales in captivity for many years, does not place the onus on the Canadian government to cover your expenses,\u201d the fisheries minister said in her letter to the former Ontario tourist attraction, the Times reported. <\/p>\n

The marine park closed in 2024 amid dwindling attendance and animal abuse allegations. AP<\/p>\n

Thompson said her decision aligns with a 2019 law \u2014 known as the \u201cFree Willy\u201d bill \u2014 which banned breeding whales and dolphins, keeping them in captivity, or using them for entertainment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The law crippled the park\u2019s attendance and forced it to shut down after 60 years of operation. <\/p>\n

Marineland also faced intense scrutiny and protests over repeated allegations of animal abuse, with 20 whales, including one orca and 19 belugas, dying at the park since 2019, the Canadian Press reported.<\/p>\n

The park\u2019s request to export the mammals to China was blocked by Fisheries Minister Joanna Thompson. AP<\/p>\n

Twenty whales, including one orca and 19 belugas, dying at the park since 2019, the Canadian Press reported. AP<\/p>\n

The park was also fined in August 2024 for keeping three black bears in cramped cages for months without adequate water, according to the Times. <\/p>\n

The Canadian law also requires a special federal permit to export marine animals. <\/p>\n

\u201cThreatening to kill all their animals if they don\u2019t get emergency funding is just repugnant,\u201d Melissa Matlow, a Toronto-based animal welfare activist, told the outlet. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to take comfort that this is the last generation of whales and dolphins that will ever have to suffer again in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A defunct marine park in Canada threatened to slaughter its remaining 30 beluga whales if the federal government…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":286567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[2147,16922,2142,5312,159,67,132,68,12793,837,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-286566","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-euthanasia","10":"tag-federal-government","11":"tag-parks","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-whales","17":"tag-wildlife","18":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115338687557302471","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}