The exotic animals of ‘Reptilia’ won’t be coming to London – at least for now.
The reptile zoo, soon to be located at Westmount Mall, had been asking for a by-law exemption so it could house crocodiles, alligators, venomous snakes, and venomous lizards. However, councillors voted against the plan on Tuesday, by a 9-6 count.
“My concern still remains the same about animal welfare,” said Councillor Elizabeth Peloza. “We’ve received letters from the London Humane Society expressing their concerns….We have bigger things to focus on in my opinion. Housing. Homelessness.”
The decision to not hold the public participation meeting means that the exemption is a decided matter of council, and can’t be re-opened for discussion for a full year.
Peloza, Hadleigh McAllister, Sam Trosow, Steve Lehman, Anna Hopkins, Skylar Franke, and David Ferreria were the councillors who voted against holding the public meeting to examine changing the by-law. They were joined by Mayor Josh Morgan and Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis.
Paul Van Meerbergen, whose ward includes Westmount Mall, voted in favour of holding a public meeting on the exemption. He was joined by councillors Peter Cuddy, Susan Stevenson, Jerry Pribil, Corinne Rahman, and Steve Hillier
“It’s the potential of London becoming a destination city,” Jerry Pribil said in hopes of convincing colleagues to keep hope for the by-law change alive. “I do see it as an opportunity.”
However, Tourism London General Manager Cheryl Finn wrote council a letter stating that Reptilia may not be considered tourism by their definition.
