In Taiji, Japan 52 dolphins were taken captive (to be sold to international aquariums) and 40 were slaughtered for their meat. Of the 52 captives, despair will most likely also be their "inexplicable" cause of death. This assertion may seem bold, but as a former marine mammal trainer of 12 years at Marineland of Canada, I can attest to the grief and suffering these sentient beings experience.

Marineland has a right to deny some people entry to its park and to try to ensure that those who want to visit the park can access it safely. However, the steps that it has taken in court to date, and those that are threatened by its legal team, go well beyond these rights. We should all be allowed to protest on issues that we believe in without fearing a lawsuit and without being told which words we can use to make our point. And we should all be concerned when our courts, already overburdened and inaccessible to so many with pressing legal needs, are used by a corporate actor to silence its critics.

Any Canadian who has picked up a paper or watched the news in the last nine months knows Marineland has been in a lot of hot, over-chlorinated water since 15 ex-employees decided to speak out about animal abuse and neglect at the park this past August. Marineland is set to open again this Saturday. This is why we need you (yes you!) to be at the Marineland Opening Day Demonstration.