Private Ontario zoo with 450 animals up for sale in Chatham-Kent

The potential sale of a private zoo in southwestern Ontario where there are hundreds of exotic animals is raising legal and moral questions about the thorny issue of the private ownership of dangerous wildlife. 

Greenview Aviaries Park and Zoo, which has operated for nearly 40 years in the community of Morpeth in Chatham-Kent, is listed on Ontario's Multiple Listings Service (MLS) for $4.5 million. 

Cody Kraus, a broker with Century 21 Erie Shores Realty, said the purchase price includes:

"There's five or six lions," Kraus said. "A lot of these animals are breeding. They had a new lion cub that was born this year and that's one of the big features now. There's tigers, there's a black bear, there's water buffalo." 

Animal rights activists say the fact the zoo's menagerie of 450 animals is included with the property illustrates the need for better laws governing keeping exotic animals in Ontario. They argue anyone could take ownership of potentially dangerous lions and tigers with no licensing or training required. 

"It's leaving animals in a dangerous situation and its leaving people in a dangerous situation," said Julie Woodyer, the campaigns director for ZooCheck Canada, a charity dedicated to the protection of wild animals.

Ontario has no laws governing the ownership or breeding of potentially dangerous animals, such as lions and tigers, and no standards for training on how the animals should be handled. 

"Anyone can buy this. They don't have to have any training or understanding of the biology of the animals nor how to manage them," Woodyer said. 

In Ontario, it's up to each municipality to enact its own bylaw, which critics say creates a confusing and inconsistent patchwork of rules when it comes to public safety and the keeping of potentially dangerous wildlife. 

Chatham-Kent passed its own exotic animal bylaw in 2015. The legislation gives Greenview Aviaries an exemption under the bylaw. 

Don Shropshire, the municipality's chief administrative officer, told CBC News on Monday that municipal lawyers said the bylaw exemption would be transferred to the new owners once the property is sold.

He also noted the facility under its current ownership has never presented a problem for local law enforcement officials. 

The zoo "has been operating successfully for many years. I am not aware of any concerns being raised about either safety or the care of the animals. Hoping whoever buys the business will carry on with this tradition."

Also on Monday, Brian Daly, who co-owns the zoo with his brothers Ken and Scott, told CBC News the family would only consider serious offers when it came to selling their 38-year-old business.