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London, Ontario's Online News Source"If you're on...you're in!" |
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VIDEO: Londoners plan to rescue kangaroo from roadside zoo
Tyson, an Australian kangaroo held in captivity at the local roadside zoo, made Australian headlines last week when Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph wrote an outraged story about Tyson being "imprisoned . . . inside a cage no bigger than a single-car garage with just a tin shed to protect him from the Canadian winter." Lickety Split Zoo has made headlines before for allegedly poorly treating its animals and has been called the "worst zoo in Canada" by the Toronto-based World Society for the Protection of Animals. Recently the zoo quickly shut down, with phone lines being disconnected and Tourism London being told by owners that the operation would not be opening for the long, May 24, weekend, the Toronto Star reported. According to The Daily Telegraph, Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull has asked for an investigation of the situation. Other Australian media followed up on the story and a TV station reported that Tyson may no longer be at Lickety Split. Below is a video of Tyson shot several months ago (courtesy of ontariozoos.ca) Londoners Vicki VanLinden and Melody Evans are organizing a call to action to protect exotic animals in roadside zoos. Bill 154, which was tabled in the Ontario's Legislative Assembly and aimed to protect zoo animals, has not reached second reading and now seems destined to die on the order papers unless legislators from all parties are prepared to act quickly, the women noted. "They passed their own pay raises in just eight days," says VanLinden. "So why can't they rush through a bill that would protect hundreds of animals from inhumane treatment in cramped quarters?" London Ward 11 City Councillor and former MPP David Winninger agrees. "When all three parties agree to pass legislation, it can and has been done in an afternoon," he said. VanLinden and Evans, with support from City Controller Gina Barber, are hosting a public meeting to coordinate efforts to put pressure on the provincial government to proceed with Bill 154. In addition, they hope to devise a strategy to locate and rescue Tyson. The kangaroo has not been seen for some time and there are concerns, based on a video tape made some months ago, that the animal is in need of medical attention, Barber said. Attempts to contact the owner of Lickety Split have met with failure, she said. The meeting is planned for Wednesday (May 30) at 6:30 p.m., in the Civic Garden Complex, 645 Springbank Dr., just west of Wonderland Road. RELATED STORY: Lickety Split zoo tangled in diplomatic 'roo row
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