A pair of lion cubs escaped from Roaring Cat Retreat in Grand Bend
The whole town is talking about it after a photo of a lion cub surfaced on social media
Town officials in Grand Bend, Ont. said two escaped lion cubs have been recovered and returned to Roaring Cat Retreat after images of a lion cub wandering down a local street circulated on social media Friday.
Tammy Nyyssonen, who owns the controversial private zoo with Mark Drysdale, confirmed that someone cut the locks of the lion cub enclosure at their facility on Friday morning.
"All I can say is that immediately upon it coming to our attention that the lock was cut on the cub enclosure, we secured the cubs who were on our property and immediately contacted the police," Nyyssonen said, reading a prepared statement over the phone.
"We can't say anything further," she said, noting that for any further statements CBC News would have to go through the couple's lawyer, Paula Lombardi.
Lombardi has not responded to a request for comment from CBC News.
VanDongen subdivision has seen several animal escapes
Since the incident, a photo of a lion cub wandering on a leaf-strewn suburban street has been making the rounds on social media with the image being shared dozens of times.
Owen Vincent, who lives in the VanDongen subdivision with his wife and two small children said his uneasiness over the nearby zoo has only grown since this latest escape.
"Something needs to happen before somebody gets killed," he said. "We're getting closer and closer to an incident every day."
Vincent said he's seen llamas, donkeys and pigs roaming the VanDongen subdivision in the last six months.
"Now this morning two lions got out and we're just lucky that they weren't full grown lions. I mean there were hundreds of kids in our subdivision last night trick or treating."
"It's a big concern for everybody in our neighbourhood who has small kids," he said. "It's really an unsafe situation."
Since Roaring Cat Retreat opened in April, the Municipality of Lambton Shores has made several attempts to hamstring the facility's operations.
In April, town councillors passed an exotic animal by-law, banning the ownership of large cats, such as lions, tigers and cougars.
The town is also seeking a court injunction against the owners of Roaring Cat Retreat that would ban open houses and bar members of the public from entering the property, capping the number of animals allowed and having the animals caged at all times.
"The matter is before the courts. The municipality is doing everything it can and we'll continue with that process," said Bill Weber, the Mayor of Lambton Shores.
The matter will be before the courts in December.
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