The Otter Liberation Front is calling for the immediate release of an otter that was captured in Winnipeg after it was discovered living under a downtown dumpster on Saturday.
The OLF, made up entirely of otters, is threatening to retaliate if their demands are not met.
“Our otter comrade wasn’t living under a dumpster, a city has been living over an otter,” said a masked otter in an online video.
“Never forget that humanity is the intruder here.”
In response to the video, Zoos and fish ponds across the country have raised their Otter Warnings to their highest level since the Vancouver Koi Pond attack months ago.
The Otter League, the political wing of the Otter Liberation Front, is also demanding to visit the urban otter in the facility where she is being held.
“Is she being fed fish or some sort of colonial ‘otter kibble’?” asked one otter from the party. “We demand to visit her ourselves to determine if she is being mistreated by her captors.”
The political response to what’s being called the Urban Otter Crisis was swift as well.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer is demanding an immediate investigation into ‘extreme otterism’ while NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said he supports otter rights but ‘rule of law’ must be upheld.
Earlier on Saturday, Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman said he is meeting with leaders in the ‘moderate’ otter community in an attempt to diffuse tensions.
