Sudbury's Northern Exotics included in investigation of Ontario roadside zoos
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.
"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."
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
As the federal government looks to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., an eastern Ontario mayor says his city needs more help from Ottawa to deal with the influx of asylum seekers arriving through irregular crossings like Roxham Road.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
A majority of Canadians have seen a mistake on their grocery receipts in the last year, according to a new survey conducted by Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
The quick thinking and immediate actions of two people are credited with possibly saving the life of a Midland councillor after he collapsed at a meeting Wednesday evening.
Investigators with York Regional Police issued Canada-wide warrants for two men who they say are involved in the Richmond Hill attack on Ontario woman Elnaz Hajtamiri weeks before she was allegedly abducted.
An Ontario man said he was shocked when his truck was stolen not once but twice, and the second time it was taken he was surprised to discover he was no longer covered for theft.
Ottawa residents are being told to expect road closures, transit delays and heightened security in the downtown core today, as U.S. President Joe Biden continues his visit to the capital. CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at what you need to know about President Biden's second day in Ottawa.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
The ‘Catch the Ace’ jackpot is still up for grabs in Hagersville. There was no winner Thursday night so the total prize money is now an estimated $1,526,067.
The resurrection of Zellers is officially underway with the Cambridge location opening its doors to eager shoppers who lined up ahead of the store's official reopening.
The new provincial budget features items specific to southwestern Ontario, including a new English public elementary school in London, Ont. that will serve 556 students and include 88 licensed childcare spaces.
A young Strathroy, Ont. man believes there's a promising way forward in the effort to fight his disease. But, he's being told, right now, that path isn't open to him. Friends and family are stepping up to try and make a case for Kyle McPhee to receive immunotherapy treatments.
After a year-and-a-half without, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) says it’s narrowing in on hiring a permanent chief medical officer of health.
When the permit to construct a replacement span for the Ambassador Bridge expired in the summer of 2022, many thought that would bring an end to a 20-year saga of boarded up homes in the city’s west end.
For the first time, the owner of a building in Old Montreal has responded to questions about the fire — through his lawyer — addressing allegations that the building was unsafe.
The political class at the National Assembly has condemned the 'violent' and 'hateful' remarks that columnist Gilles Proulx allegedly made about Quebec solidaire MNAs during Richard Martineau's show on Qub radio in recent weeks.
The Tim Houston PC government remains firm in their promise they'll fix the health-care system by spending more taxpayer money on health than any previous government before.
Potato farmers on Prince Edward Island are taking the federal government to court due to the decision to restrict the movement of P.E.I. seed potatoes.
Manitoba First Nation police have arrested a man connected with a shooting on March 19 on Long Plain First Nation that resulted in the community going on lockdown.
Manitoba’s labour force is growing at a rate to supply enough workers for available positions into 2026, according to the province’s labour market outlook.
The Alberta Energy Regulator has cited an energy company for causing a series of earthquakes, including the largest recorded tremblor in the province's history.
The Alberta Energy Regulator has cited an energy company for causing a series of earthquakes, including the largest recorded tremblor in the province's history.
Following a court appearance Thursday, a B.C. woman facing more than 20 charges – including manslaughter – in connection with alleged druggings of men who used escort services was remanded into custody.
The man killed in West Vancouver earlier this week was a retired urologist who was involved in several legal disputes over valuable real estate, CTV News has learned.
