A week after the Crown in Niagara Falls withdrew charges against Marineland, zoo officials from the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) have staged a surprise inspection of the entertainment firm and announced they found 11 items needing correction. Marineland, on the other hand, says the OSPCA found “no signs of abuse, distress, mistreatment or neglect” of animals during the unannounced visit. There appears to be some careful semantics at work. OSPCA gave the tourist attraction 24 hours to fix the issues. Unlike the complaints which led to the charges which were dropped, the OSPCA carried out this inspection without a complaint, Marineland pointedly added. After the withdrawal of charges on August 10, the OSPCA seemed to be stinging that the Crown had ended the prosecution. It said there was no reasonable chance of conviction. Marineland has consistently blamed complaints on disgruntled ex-employees and radical advocates. Crown drops animal cruelty charges against Marineland
