Woman shocked when she sees a lion while walking her dog in Ontario
A woman who visited Ontario last week said she was walking her dog at night when she came face-to-face with a lion through a chain-link fence — an encounter animal advocates pin on the lack of exotic animal legislation governing roadside zoos in the province.
At first, Quebec woman Patricia Lapetite thought she saw a big dog in a fenced-in yard, but as she strolled by with her speckled dog in the dark, she started to see the animal more clearly.
A lion behind a fence at Jungle Cat World in Clarington, Ont. as seen in a video posted to social media on March 8 (Patlapetite). “I saw the lion in a yard about 30 feet from the road,” she told CTV News Toronto.
Her dog Abby began barking as the two animals bolted parallel to one another, separated by a snowbank and a fence, as seen in a video Lapetite posted on social media on March 8.
Lapetite later learned she had stumbled upon Jungle Cat World, what animal rights experts call a roadside zoo, located in Clarington, Ont., about 100 km east of downtown Toronto.
Lions, tigers, jaguars, hyenas and leopards live at the wildlife centre, which has been open since 1983, according to its website. The park also offers a safari getaway where visitors can “fall asleep to the roar of the lions and howling of the wolves” at an on-site bed-and-breakfast.
The lion’s enclosure is perched next to Concession Road across the street from a gas station and local restaurant, and down the road from residential houses. CTV News Toronto visited the area on Monday and could see the lion in its enclosure from the road.
Lapetite’s video, which now has 3,000 shares on Facebook and more than 5,000 likes on TikTok, has sparked a lively conversation circling the question – why is a lion living along a public road, within walking distance from local businesses and residential households?
A Google map view of Jungle Cat World's location in Clarington, Ont.“Is that even legal? I never knew (you) could possess any type of exotic animal like that … with all the houses around it,” one person commented on Facebook. “I know I wouldn’t wanna be living in that area.”
Another person posted, “Not sure, but I think the fence is not really useful. It's still a feline that jumps very well.”
On Monday, Animal Welfare Services said they inspected Jungle Cat World in response to a complaint regarding the lion. Solicitor general spokesperson Brent Ross told CTV News Toronto at the time of inspection, all the lions were in their enclosures and there was “no threat to public safety.”
But from the point of view of Michèle Hamers, World Animal Protection’s wildlife campaign manager, the lion’s enclosure is “completely inadequate.”
“Lions can jump as high as 12 feet, which is why professional zoo standards recommend keeping lions behind fences at least 15 feet high,” she told CTV News Toronto.
Beyond height, Hamers said the fence should have an overhang at the top to prevent the animal from climbing out.
Jungle Cat World did not respond to CTV News Toronto’s repeated requests for comment on the Quebec woman’s encounter and the lion enclosure.
This is the second time in three years that World Animal Protection has raised concerns about Jungle Cat World.
In 2019, the wildlife park made headlines for offering close-up photo opportunities with tiger cubs, wolves and other wild animals. Less than a decade earlier, a two-year-old wolf named Shadow escaped from a double-fenced enclosure at Jungle Cat World and was fatally shot by a local resident.
In a complaint report, penned by World Animal Protection and submitted to Provincial Animal Welfare Services in September, the group claimed the facility was not in adherence with numerous provisions in the Ontario Regulation 444/19 Standards of Care and Administrative Requirements.
One of the issues flagged by the group was the alleged “poor design and construction of enclosures," which could lead to escapes and inappropriate interaction with people, according to the complaint.
“It’s a very strong reminder of how broken Ontario’s animal legislation is,” Hamers said in reference to the situation with the lion.
Ontario is the last jurisdiction in Canada that has not regulated the ownership of exotic animals. Instead, each municipality is responsible for outlining their own rules.
“We are calling on the government of Ontario to get serious about taking control of this issue instead of downloading the responsibility onto municipalities and for the proper authorities to investigate this thoroughly,” Hamers said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow has tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine, and he warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
Service Canada holding back 85K passports amid Canada Post mail strike
Approximately 85,000 new passports are being held back by Service Canada, which stopped mailing them out a week before the nationwide Canada Post strike.
Taylor Swift's motorcade spotted along Toronto's Gardiner Expressway
Taylor Swift is officially back in Toronto for round two. The popstar princess's motorcade was seen driving along the Gardiner Expressway on Tuesday afternoon, making its way to the downtown core ahead of night four of ‘The Eras Tour’ at the Rogers Centre.
Manitoba RCMP issue Canada-wide warrant for Ontario semi-driver charged in deadly crash
Manitoba RCMP have issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for the semi-driver involved in a crash that killed an eight-year-old girl and her mother.
Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays
Canadians won’t have to pay GST on a selection of items this holiday season, the prime minister vowed on Thursday.
Mother charged after infant dies in midtown Toronto: police
The mother of an infant who died after being found at an apartment building in midtown Toronto on Wednesday has been charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.
B.C. man who sold Porsche to scammers shares cautionary tale
A man from B.C.’s Lower Mainland who was scammed while selling his Porsche Cayenne online is sharing his cautionary tale – while calling for increased protections from the government.