TORONTO — Whatever sort of gripes you may have with your neighbour, remember, things could always be worse. For example, they could have a horde of alligators and crocodiles living right next door.
That was the astounding case at one Toronto-area home until last Friday, when some brave souls from the Indian River Reptile Zoo muzzled, wrestled and relocated 150 alligators, crocodiles and caimans living illegally in the mixed residential-industrial area.
Zoo founder Bry Loyst says the unidentified couple contacted him two years ago as their menagerie of man-eating beasts began outgrowing their enclosures. The owners handed over the crocodiles along with some money, which the sanctuary used to expand its rescue facility.
The couple avoided punishment for owning so many animals prohibited under city bylaws.
READ MORE: Ontario to review exotic pet ownership rules
Crocodiles and alligators are just two from a lengthy list of prohibited pets in Toronto, and violating those bylaws can invite a maximum $5,000 fine for each offence.
The list includes some fairly pedestrian creatures, such as horses, sheep and pigs, as well as some unlikely, exotic and downright dangerous pets, including skunks, kangaroos and leopards.
Most Toronto residents likely know that monkeys are similarly prohibited, since one illegally owned monkey became an international star of sorts back in 2013.
Darwin the IKEA monkey falls under the prohibited “non-human primates” section of Toronto’s animal bylaws. Owner Yasmin Nakhuda also wasn’t charged under the bylaws, but had to pay $83,000 in legal costs after suing an animal sanctuary in a failed attempt to recover her pet.
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Darwin stayed in a sanctuary, but Nakhuda now owns several new monkeys. She isn’t breaking any laws this time though, since she simply moved to a nearby municipality with different laws.
There’s almost no uniform animal ownership law in Ontario, although the government has pledged to make changes. Ontario’s former community safety minister Madeleine Meilleur called the current system a “patchwork” of inconsistent laws and vowed to toughen them up after the shocking deaths of two New Brunswick boys killed by an illegally owned python in 2013.
READ MORE: Two boys killed by python died from asphyxiation: RCMP
In fact, the only animal banned province-wide is the pit bull. Crocodiles, elephants, leopards and others are widely banned, but those decisions are still up to each municipality.
Meilleur’s pledge led to tougher enforcement of puppy and kitten mills as well as stricter regulation of zoos and marine animals, but ownership laws weren’t overhauled.
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