An Ontario town is trying to ban a man’s pet tigers
An exotic animal lover must get his two big cats out of Wainfleet, the town has declared
It turns out Niagara Region is no place to be a tiger king.
At least, that was Wainfleet Township Council’s message to Zohaib Masood, who has been keeping two adolescent tigers on his property despite a town law explicitly banning exotic animals.
Named Jagger and Aspen, the two cats are hybrids of Bengal and Siberian tigers. They weigh 350 and 250 pounds, respectively, and they’re only getting bigger: a male tiger can reach up to 600 pounds at maturity. Masood told the National Post that he rescued the animals from owners in Ontario who bit off more than they could chew. He says he is providing them with the care they need by housing them on his property in Wainfleet, a former mushroom farm sporting fences 13 to 16 feet high.
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The township, however, is not convinced. “The obvious fear is what happens if these animals escape,” said Wainfleet mayor Brian Grant, who noted he does not have staff who can deal with loose tigers. The town has ordered Masood to move the tigers—and the deadline is today.
This isn’t the first time the Wainfleet has had trouble with exotic animals. In 2018, it shut down Ringtail Ranch and Rescue after several of its critters escaped or otherwise caused mischief: in one case, a local politician was ambushed by a lemur named Lawson. Those same issues led to the ban on exotic animals that Masood is violating.
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On Sunday, Masood told the Post he doesn’t yet have a new spot for the tigers, but he appears confident he’ll find one. Some other town may soon be getting some large, furry neighbours.
Anthony Milton is a freelance journalist based in Toronto specializing in long-form magazine writing. He previously worked as an assistant editor at Toronto Life, where he launched the Front Row newsletter. He regularly contributes all sorts of stories to the magazine, including deep dives on sports, business and housing as well as short-form commentary on our ever-changing city, from its obsession with cherry blossoms to its maddening NIMBYism. His work has also appeared in Maclean’s, Ricochet, TVO, the Trillium and more.
