A group of demonstrators lined the street outside of a zoo in Bowmanville, Ont. in protest of alleged animal cruelty at the facility.
Approximately 20 people gathered at the zoo on Monday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., holding signs up for passing vehicles to see.
The protest was organized approximately a week after a video emerged of the zoo's owner using a whip to control a tiger during a training session.
The video was filmed by a member of the animal rights group PETA.
The group alleged that zoo owner Michael Hackenberger "repeatedly swore at and savagely whipped a young Siberian tiger up to 20 times on the face and body. According to PETA, the tiger is seen cowering, rolling over on his back, and expressing his anal glands during the beating -- a fear response in big cats."
The animal rights group is calling on the Ontario SPCA to investigate and charge Hackenberger. PETA also wants the tiger confiscated from the zoo.
The Bowmanville Zoo was quick to respond with a half-hour-long video calling PETA's allegations "manufactured" and offering a step-by-step explanation of the actions seen in the video released by the organization.
Hackenberger said he only struck the tiger twice to "correct" its behaviour when it swiped at one of the trainers. The rest of the time, Hackenberger said he was only cracking the whip and striking the ground without making contact with the tiger.
"Maybe I viciously whipped the ground. Maybe I viciously whipped the air. But I did not viciously whip that tiger," he said.
