Mont Mosan amusement park, in Huy near Liège, Wallonia, has received an official complaint concerning the treatment of sea lions used to entertain guests.
According to Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure, the amusement park is being challenged by animal rights group “the Wolf Eyes association”, who have lodged a complaint with the police. According to the group, they are dedicated to fighting against animal captivity and cruelty.
The controversy surrounds the use of the seals to conduct a series of performances, such as towing a rowboat full of children, and even adults, around a circular body of water. In 2018, the French animal rights group secretly filmed a park employee stating that Mont Mosan used improper, chlorinated water, which has led to the blinding of animals. This has yet to be confirmed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCFnooTufKs
The complaint follows almost five years of conflict between the group and the animal park. Jean-Michel Stasse, the group’s leader and founder, says that this complaint has been long in the making.
“In 2018, I had already denounced this show. I had also learned from one of the trainers by hidden camera that most of the sea lions end up blind because of the chlorine contained in the water,” Strasse La DH.
In 2020, Strasse published a video which directly called on the public to condemn the supposed abuse committed at Mont Mosan. The video received great online attention, Strasse claimed, and so in 2021 he revisited to assess if the park had made any changes to its animal welfare standards.
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Strasse condemns the fact that animal performances are banned in circuses, yet continue in zoos and other establishments.
The animal rights figure decided to file his complaint after hearing that the Belgian Minister of Animal Welfare, Céline Tellier, had addressed a letter to the director of the Mont Mosan park, Jean-Marc Vanberg, forcibly reminding him that the spectacle was “contrary to the norm.”
“We ask the administration of Minister Tellier to be heard and to be respected by putting an end to animal abuse,” Strasse said.
