Kangaroo at Aurora fest 'looked like it was dying'

[spaminator]

Kangaroo at Aurora fest 'looked like it was dying'
Aaron D'Andrea, Toronto Sun
First posted: Monday, June 06, 2016 02:00 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, June 06, 2016 02:25 PM EDT
Some visitors to an Aurora community festival are outraged about the alleged mistreatment of a kangaroo.
“We saw a kangaroo in a pen lying on the ground on the hot concrete ... It looked like it was dying,” Stephanie Nikolich, 21, of Toronto, said Monday. “It was drooling and foaming from the mouth.”
Nikolich, who went to the Aurora Chamber of Commerce event on Sunday with her boyfriend, Jonathon Cole, 27, and his 10-year-old sister, said the kangaroo was an exhibit at the Tiger Paws Exotics petting zoo.
“My little sister was bending down beside the kangaroo to see if it was OK and it wasn’t moving,” Cole said. “It didn’t have its eyes open, but she could tell it was breathing because it was panting.”
Nikolich said most animals did not have shelter from the sun.
“Two porcupines were fighting for one corner of shade in their pen and the rabbits were piling on top of each other in the corner just to get out of the sun,” she said.
After the couple saw the condition of the animals, they said they spoke with the petting zoo’s owner, Tim Heights, and filed a complaint with the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA).
Neither Heights nor the OSPCA responded to the Toronto Sun’s request for an interview.
Sandra Watson, interim manager of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, said she was aware of the issue.
“The chamber certainly does not condone any sort of animal cruelty,” Watson said, adding that the zoo was brought in by Law Insurance Brokers Limited in Aurora.
The broker’s president, Brian McCartney, told the Sun they have hired the petting zoo in the past and it has always done good work.
“We used them for about seven years now and this is the first time we’ve had an incident like this,” he said. “However, the Chamber and ourselves have decided we won’t be putting any petting zoos on in the future.”
adandrea@postmedia.com
The state of a kangaroo at the Aurora community festival worried some of the attendees. (Supplied photo)

Kangaroo at Aurora fest 'looked like it was dying' | Toronto & GTA | News | Toro
everyone was hopping mad.

 

[spaminator]

Ontario petting zoo under investigation says its kangaroo is healthy
Liam Casey, THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Thursday, June 09, 2016 12:31 AM EDT | Updated: Thursday, June 09, 2016 12:48 AM EDT
An Ontario petting zoo under investigation by animal welfare authorities for leaving a kangaroo and other animals in the sun without shade at a recent festival north of Toronto says it takes exceptional care of all of its animals.
Tim Height, the owner of Tiger Paw Exotics, says the kangaroo was just resting as it usually does during the days and not near death as alleged by a visitor to the Aurora Chamber of Commerce's annual street festival.
That visitor, Jonathon Cole, says he saw the kangaroo curled up on minimal bedding on the hot road with no available water and foam coming from its mouth.
He thought the animal was dying and complained to both Height and to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who attended and told the petting zoo to provide a tent to give shade to the animals.
Height says the sun had just broken through and staff were already constructing a tent for the animals, which also had separate enclosures with rabbits and porcupines.
The company organizing the petting zoo portion of the street festival has cut ties with Tiger Paw Exotics, but says this was the first complaint in seven years working with Height's organization.
"We take excellent care of our animals and take pride in our business," Height wrote in an email.
"The kangaroo was resting comfortably and staff would not disturb her."
He said kangaroos usually sleep during the day and are more active in the morning and at night.
Veterinarian Colin Peace said Millie, a nine-year-old female red kangaroo, was healthy and in good spirits when he examined the animal on Monday.
"These animals are from Australia and are used to the heat," Peace said.
"She was just resting when the public saw her."
The OSPCA has launched an investigation into Tiger Paw Exotics and the case is being managed by one of its zoo inspectors.
A kangaroo is shown lying in the sun at the Aurora Chamber of Commerce street festival in Aurora, Ont., on June 5, 2016, in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Jonathon Cole

Ontario petting zoo under investigation says its kangaroo is healthy | Toronto &