Marineland animal cruelty case put off, back in court in February
The latest charges against tourist attraction relate to land animals kept at Ontario facility
Marineland will be back in Niagara Falls, Ont., court on Feb. 23 to face 11 charges of animal cruelty.
Lawyers for the tourist attraction appeared briefly in provincial offences court Thursday before the case was adjourned to next month.
The facility faces charges after the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals laid five animal cruelty counts last year, then added six more earlier this month.
The allegations say Marineland permitted certain zoo land animals — elk, red deer and fallow deer — to be in distress and failed to comply with the prescribed standards of care.
"We want to reassure the public that the [OSPCA] will continue to make sure these animals are getting the care they require," said Steve Toy, OSPCA senior inspector, in a news release in early January.
Marineland dismisses the allegations, accusing the animal welfare agency of acting on behalf of "a band of discredited activists."
The tourist attraction was charged with five counts of animal cruelty in late November allegedly involving a peacock, guinea hens and American black bears.