Little Ray's Nature Center facing Financial Struggles despite Federal Aid

Little Ray's Nature Center, which is one of the largest exotic animal sanctuaries in North America has two locations in Ontario and another in the United States of America. One in Kingston and one in Sarsfield just outside of Ottawa, and it is there that TVC22 reporter met with Paul ‘Little Ray’ Goulet.

Little Ray's Nature Center has been struck hard by the pandemic. Like many businesses across the province, country and world, they were forced to close their doors to the public last March, taking a considerable hit to their income.

Unlike many other businesses though, Litte Ray's has steep expenses that were not diminished during the pandemic. With hundreds of different species to feed, requiring a variety of different climates Litte Ray's Nature Center has had to loan a considerable amount of money in order to stay afloat.

Despite this, the company still forecasts up to a $2m shortfall. In a desperate attempt for help, the sanctuary started a bottle drive and set up a GoFundMe page which has had a staggering success.

Having received a grant in June 2020, MP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Mr. Francis Drouin announced that the federal government was allocating a further $366,000 to Little Ray's. Although this financial aid will go some way to helping the center Mr. Goulet pointed out this aid was a loan, which takes the companies borrowing up to just shy of $1m - causing more headaches for the long term future of the center and the lives of these animals...