Sudbury's Northern Exotics included in investigation of Ontario roadside zoos
The World Animal Protection organization has released a new investigative report on the state of so-called roadside zoos in Ontario.
The report, titled 'Nothing New at the Zoo,' highlights numerous problems with the way exotic animals are housed, cared for and interact with the public.
The investigation reviewed the operations of 11 zoos across Ontario, including Northern Exotics in Sudbury, as well as 10 operations in southern Ontario.
The full report can be found here.
"We found different things from very flimsy built cages to tigers being kept behind fences lower than three metres," said Michèle Hamers, the group's wildlife campaign manager.
"Tigers can clear fences higher (than) four metres, so there are some public health and safety issues there. We found very small enclosures in which animals aren’t able to engage in natural behaviours."
While the report doesn't single out individual zoos for problems, it points to widespread issues with the way the animals are cared for and handled.
In particular, the conditions in which they are kept are radically different from how they live in the wild.
"We found group animals or very social animals like monkeys and parrots to be kept alone, which is heartbreaking to me," Hamers said.
"We found quite some abnormal behaviours -- so those are behaviours that we only see in captivity that they’re usually related to stress, like pacing in wolves, feather plucking in parrots and self-mutilation in monkeys."
Dennis Epp, the owner of Northern Exotics, said he’s disheartened to be on the list especially since he said he doesn’t consider his store to be a zoo necessarily.
It's not a situation where he tries to acquire animals, Epp said. It's more of a rescue situation.
"We get a knock at the door with someone saying 'we have a lizard in a bin outside that needs a home,'" he said.
"So we go out and bring it in. And so, yeah, we might not have the best enclosures, but we don’t know what’s coming to us."
Unlike other organizations, Zepp said he pays for everything himself, aside from a few donations.
"As we can, we improve and we do our best,” he said.
Epp said he signed up for voluntary inspections through the SPCA years ago and has always received good reports. He said Northern Exotics also receives inspections through the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, again passing with flying colours.
Hamers said the province took over enforcement of animal laws from the SPCA in 2019 and WAP's investigation proves the new way of doing things isn’t working.
"We want government to step up and make sure that at least the regulations that are in place -- which are quite vague and hard to enforce -- that they are enforced," she said.
"Additionally, what we would like to see … is to have a zoo licensing system that is province-wide, that is mandatory and that really would result in a phase-out of these types of facilities where public health and animal welfare are highly problematic."
Brent Ross, a spokesperson with the Ministry of the Solicitor General, sent CTV News this statement:
"Animal welfare services has received the complaints raised in this report and is investigating. The PAWS Act is one of the toughest provincial animal welfare legislations in Canada. Since the Act was passed, there have been 47,500 inspections or investigations province-wide; over 6,000 orders and over 500 charges being laid. A total of 3,200 animals have been rescued."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.