With all the excitement that Darwin the ‘Ikea Monkey’ has created, I thought it would be a great time to re-visit an old blog post I wrote a while ago about what animals you cannot own in the City of Toronto. The post was originally inspired by the small and cute Teacup piglet. You see, while most people are happy getting a dog or a cat, a bird or a fish, a rabbit or even a hamster. Not my wife. She had come across a website selling Teacup piglets and had fallen in love.
After sitting through a barrage of on-line photos including these two:
(for proof that they weren’t too big)
(I’m pretty sure she just liked the boots!)
She turned to a rather well rehearsed speech about all of the great features of the breed, and I found myself in a place where even I was contemplating the idea. Unfortunately for my wife (and myself of course) I decided to do a little research and it turns out that in the City of Toronto you are not allowed to own pigs. (Or for that matter hyaenas, anteaters, wolves and tigers).
So for those of you out there that aren’t satisfied with owning one of the typical pets, here’s a list of the animals that you CAN’T get.
City of Toronto Prohibited Animals:
- Artiodactyla (such as cattle, goats, sheep, pigs)
- Canidae (such as coyotes, wolves, foxes, hybrid wolf dogs) except dogs
- Chiroptera (bats such as fruit bats, myotis, flying foxes)
- Edentates (such as anteaters, sloths, armadillos)
- Felidae (such as tigers, leopards, cougars) except cats
- Hyaenidae (such as hyaenas)
- Lagomorpha (such as hares, pikas) except rabbits
- Marsupials (such as kangaroos, opossums, wallabies) except sugar gliders derived from self-sustaining captive populations
- Mustelidae (such as mink, skunks, weasels, otters, badgers) except ferrets
- Non-human primates (such as chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, lemurs)
- Perissodactyla (such as horses, donkeys, jackasses, mules)
- Proboscidae (elephants)
- Procyonidae (such as coatimundi, cacomistles)
- Rodentia (such as porcupines and prairie dogs) except rodents which do not exceed 1,500 grams and are derived from self-sustaining captive populations
- Ursidae (bears)
- Viverridae (such as mongooses, civets, genets)
- Anseriformes (such as ducks, geese, swans, screamers)
- Galliformes (such as pheasants, grouse, guineafowls, turkeys)
- Struthioniformes (flightless ratites such as ostriches, rheas, cassowaries, emus, kiwis)
- Crocodylia (such as alligators, crocodiles, gavials)
- All snakes which reach an adult length larger than 3 metres
- All lizards which reach an adult length larger than 2 metres
- All venomous and poisonous animals