The video, which has been shared heavily over the past days, was posted on Twitter by a French animal protection collective who called for users to denounce the acts of the park. The manager of the Belgian park defended himself and disputed any act of wrongdoing on the site.
The video was filmed in Mont Mosan, a park situated in the Belgian city of Huy near Namur on 7 August. The collective “C’est assez” (That’s enough) is fighting against the slaughter and captivity of whales and is calling for an end to all activities in which animals are used for the entertainment of the public.
After the video went viral in Belgium, it was taken up by French media as well. The video, which according to the French newspaper Le Parisien has accumulated over 500,000 views, shows a seal which tows a group of children sitting on a small barque using a ring which has been placed around the animal’s neck.
Christine Grandjean, the president of the association, stated in an interview with Belgian newspaper la Meuse that Mont Mosan should immediately put an end to this activity which increases the animal’s suffering in captivity. She stressed that seals were sensitive beings which should not be made to tow children around. However, she also specified that it was not the association’s goal to force the park to close down.
The association asked internet users to contact the park themselves to denounce these questionable practices. A message which viewers of the video seemed to have picked up almost instantly, as the collective later asked citizens not to threaten the park with violence and sign a petition instead of sending messages.
The parc’s manager, Jean-Marc Vanberg, reacted to this wave of criticism on the Belgian news website 7sur7, stating that it the past days had been absolutely horrific. Vanberg explained that he had received numerous insulting messages and even death threats while also stressing that the content of the video was not shocking at all as this activity had existed in the parc for over 35 years. He argued that the seals are not being mistreated as they can let go of the rope at any moment and that the towed weight was “not very heavy” in relation to their own mass.
Vanberg also announced that he intended to sue the “C’est Assez” collective.
