Petting zoo animals at London Pride event die after Ontario farm receives anonymous anti-2SLGBTQ+ email
This story has been updated since it was first published to include new details from the London Police Service.
London police are investigating the deaths of two animals and the illness of a third after they were on display at a petting zoo for children, part of a weekend Pride event in the southwestern Ontario city.
Two rodents — a Patagonian cavy named Bean and Cashew the guinea pig — died, and Apollo the goat is being monitored for symptoms at the farm, said Bethany Tout, owner of Little Hobby Hill Farm, an animal sanctuary and therapeutic farm based in Salford.
They were all housed in the same pen at the Oakridge Optimist Community Park on Saturday.
"I'm really hoping that it's not true that someone did this. I really hate to think that someone would do this intentionally," Tout told CBC News.
A post-mortem on the guinea pig will be conducted in Guelph to determine cause of death, Tout said.
"That can take a couple of days, but I am hoping it's quick so we can have answers."
Several days before the event, Tout got an anonymous email to the farm's account expressing disappointment that her business was involved with the Pride event. Police have not made any connection between the email and the death of the animals, however, they said the investigation is active and ongoing.
"Pride has no relation to a petting zoo and there is no reason to conjoin these ... Please consider your events and what you support," the email reads. CBC News has seen the message in its entirety.
"I can confirm we are aware of the incident and we are investigating the occurrence," said Const. Matt Dawson on Monday night.
On Tuesday afternoon, police released a statement saying the cause of death did not "appear to be as a result of intentional poisoning." Dawson said the necropsy results of the guinea pig had not yet been received from the veterinary college in Guelph, but was not able to provide further details.
"Should the investigation become criminal in nature in the future, we will share additional information," the police statement read.
A City of London spokesperson said officials there are also aware of the incident.
"It's been a traumatic 48 hours for a lot of people," said Oakridge Pride organizer Brianna Phelan. The Patagonian cavy had 10 seizures and was taken to the emergency veterinarian, then put down, said Phelan, adding the guinea pig died Sunday "and the goat got really sick."
Despite uncertainty over how the animals died, Phelan said, it's unsettling, especially at a time when London police say hate crimes against members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community are on the rise.
"Every year, we've had issues with protesters or people contesting the event, but this year there was nothing. It was extremely quiet, almost to the point of being unsettling," said Phelan. "Then, the petting zoo received an email."
She said she has reached out to the Ontario Poison Centre because she was worried about the children who were with the animals and playing around their pens.
"[My grandchildren] were right down on their hands and knees on the grass," said Lori Ward, who attended the event. "Make sure that your children aren't feeling sick or your animals that may have been at Pride aren't feeling unwell."
Ward encourages people to look through their film footage to see if anything looks suspicious.
No matter what happened, Tout said, she will continue to bring her animals to Pride events.
"We'll take precautions but it won't deter me from participating."
