We did loads of stuff like the CN tower, niagra falls.... even going to their usual grocery store was brilliant for me because i loved the way that life is there.
Every other day, one way or another, i'd always hear the theme tune / advert, which always finished with the line "Everyone loves marineland".... here's 1 version of it below....
Now that isn't the exact advert, or even the right theme as far as i remember, but it's as close as i can get on youtube at the moment.
My mind was fixed on the thought "Well, why does everyone love marineland?". I did want to go (I was a tourist when all said and done) but not having much money while i was over there, i decided maybe it'd be a trip i wouldn't make this time around, maybe next time i visited Canada (No really, i cannot wait to go back to Canada, it's an amazing country).
Only i'm now glad that i didn't go to marineland at all.
Not that it's something i majorly enforce, but i prefer to make my money work for me in a weird way. Like back home here in the UK, i refuse to order pizza from a company called "Domino's" because the owner of the company, using the company profits, was found to be giving money to anti gay causes. Why would i want him using my money to go against my rights? See where i'm coming from with this point?
It was a little time after getting home and a guy who i actually have alot of respect for online, called Spandy Andy, posted something very interesting indeed.
See, Spandy Andy's normal online presence is showing us all some of the street performances he's done and spreading a positive message of "Tight & Bright" while boosting people's good feelings and most importantly, making people smile.
Here's a little of Spandy Andy to give you all an idea of what i'm going on about....
It takes balls to do what he does and over the year's he's created alot of happy faces and some memorable moments for people in the process.
What Spandy Andy posted on the day i'm reffering to wasn't of a happy nature, infact, it was the oposite. Unknown to me, Spandy Andy had worked at Marineland, performing in shows there i believe upto 5 times a day (With his energy levels, he'd have well outdone me!), but Spandy Andy didn't last that long there. Why? Because of what he saw....
Credit to him, Spandy Andy has gotten behind almost all of the action against the way Marineland treats their animals, educating people in what happens there and asking others to help the animal abuse to end there. If i remember rightly, i signed a few petition's and felt physically sick at some of the sight's i could see when looking into this topic.
But here's where i stop at the moment and i kind of want to show you something.
See, not too long ago there was a protest outside Marineland in which some people stormed the gates to the park and managed to stop one of the shows which was taking place at Marineland that day. Spandy Andy was of course there doing his usual thing and on his youtube channel, posted the following video....
You will not see it on here, but in the video's own description Spandy wrote "I'm not happy with the actions of many in this video. I was there because I wanted to be part of change. Those animals are never happy like me. Marineland is not healthy".
While yes, some people were arrested because of this action they took, they did manage to raise awareness that day to some of the people in the park that animal abuse was taking place inside the park. To me, I'm glad that Spandy Andy was there, i'm glad that the other protester's were there too, this issue needs action and it needs it fast! Spandy WAS NOT arrested that day, but here's the thing....
On this very youtube video, Spandy has recieved such comments as....
"Terrifying the dolphins? Sounds like a FANTASTIC idea. I hope you're all proud of yourselves for terrifying those animals, and also families with small children."
"I'm so disappointed to learn that you were one of the people that broke through the gates. I thought you were all about positivity, but you broke the law and helped a bunch of out-of-control protesters terrify a crowd made up of families with children. If you want positive change for this park, you can't go about it in such a negative way. Is that really "tight and bright"? I don't think so, more like "terror and spite". "
"Your heart is in the right place, but I think it would be better to simply protest the management. Find a way to speak to the owners of these places and try to work out a compromise to ensure the safety of these animals. Running into a stadium yelling and screaming is not going to do much for your cause but make others dislike animal activists.
As far as the animals being in captivity... it's not ideal, but it is better than them being slaughtered or poisoned out in the wild."
"You are such an idiot. I'm going to try shark fin soup as soon as I can."
I honestly do not understand where some people come from i really don't. In my eyes, animal abuse is never acceptable and i mean animal abuse of any sort. The comment that starts about Spandy's heart being in the right place, is what would happen in an ideal world, but person after person whom i've heard from over this issue have said that the management simply do not listen to people.
I, along with some others, am very glad that Spandy has drawn light to this and i wish him and all the other protesters luck and i hope that this issue can come to an end soon.
As for the latest on this story, the most recent bit of news that i could find on this is dated 10th October 2012 which hint's that the Ontrio government are getting involved, which of course could well be a good thing provided action is taken.
If you would like to put your voice to this in order to try and stop the animal abuse there, then take a look at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/367/154/381/stop-animal-cruelty-at-marineland/
Thank you for reading this!
Great post, keep it TIGHT & BRIGHT bro!
ReplyDeleteThanks Spandy! Keep up the good work! :)
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