Last week I received a phone call asking if I wanted to go to Grand Bend, Ontario, to explain to the municipal council why it’s not a great idea to have a roadside zoo featuring big cats in their midst. The need to do so was precipitated by news that something called the Roaring Cat Retreat was planning to open just south of the small town, located on the southeast shore of Lake Huron.
I said sure; I’d go.
The people wanting to open the zoo, apparently without warning or community consultation, previously owned a facility in Wainfleet, Ontario. There, although it was denied by the zoo, a lion had escaped and been seen wandering about the rural, farming community. There were also 17 reports of bites involving a range of animals over a five year period. I helped Zoocheck prepare a document outlining the risk factors involved in these kinds of facilities, which we presented to Wainfleet council. They seemed nervous about acting, but the Niagara Region Public Health authorities and the local township did act and the facility eventually closed down.
But, these things are like whack-a-moles… they keep popping up. The narrative is almost always the same – the private zoo owners love animals, they are experts with long experience in animal care, their critics are alarmists with no knowledge of animals, and their animals are well cared for, rescued from some place they weren’t wanted, and above all, the public is safe. Nothing can go wrong.
But, before we could even try to arrange a meeting, the community displayed a wisdom and degree of proactiveness that is all too rare. The local council held its own special meeting and passed a bylaw that placed a ban on the kinds of animals that are potentially dangerous to the public. Wow. That was fast.
The bylaw could be challenged. Norman Buwalda decided to keep five large cats on his property in southwestern Ontario, years ago. It wasn’t even a zoo, but neighbors were, understandably, concerned. In 2004, the community also passed a bylaw to ban the keeping of such animals. In a two year court battle, Buwalda successfully challenged the bylaw in the courts. His win cost him his life when, on January 10, 2010, he was attacked and killed by one of his tigers. When it comes to keeping dangerous wild animals, nothing ever goes wrong… until it does.
When it comes to keeping dangerous wild animals, nothing ever goes wrong… until it does.
Some folks are surprised to learn from me about the lack of federal or provincial legislation governing the keeping of such animals, or the establishment of private zoos or collections, here in Ontario. It is estimated that there are hundreds of large exotic animals in private hands in Ontario, a province that, with about a third of the country’s human population, steadfastly refuses to legislate any useful licensing mechanism to protect those animals or the public who may encounter them. We have best luck at the municipal level, one community at a time, although it’s an uphill battle, usually.
Not this time.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry
