Eby Farmstead

Throughout the summer, we asked residents about their thoughts on the future of Eby Farmstead. In general, Waterloo residents expressed mixed feelings about the future of the live animal displays. While some residents value the farmstead for its nostalgic and educational roles, others raised concerns about animal welfare, particularly in an urban environment.

Of the 350 people who completed our online survey:

• 55% in favor of making significant capital investment into Eby Farm and keeping the animals
• 40% wanted to see an end to live animal displays and completely reimagine the space.

On almost all of the feedback, regardless of whether residents want to see the animal display kept or reimagined, it is clear that the current condition of the animal display is inadequate, and people have a vested interest in the current and future wellbeing of the farmstead animals.

Find the full engagement report here: Envision Eby: Farmstead Engagement Initiative

This report will be presented to Council on the November 18 Council Meeting.

Eby Farmstead has been an integral part of Waterloo Park for over 80 years. As we look towards the future, we need your help to make decisions about the future of Eby Farmstead.

Take our Envision Eby: Farmstead survey by Sept 9, 2024.

The herd currently includes:

• two donkeys
• one miniature horse
• two alpacas
• three llamas
• one Appaloosa horse

The animals are at Eby Farmstead from the Victoria Day weekend until after Thanksgiving weekend. The animals spend the winter months being boarded at a private farm. The animals are well cared for with regular veterinary visits; the City is meeting its duty of care set by the “National Farm Animal Care Council Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farm Animals.” The age of the herd has been a point of conversation with the two donkeys, one of the llamas and one of the alpacas in their senior years and reaching the average life expectancy for their breeds.

One full time staff member and three post-secondary summer students (generally with an agricultural background, are members of 4H or students attending post secondary animal care programs) care for the animals. The City has a veterinarian on retainer to care for the animals should the need arise. Staff make multiple daily visits to the Eby Farmstead to feed and care for the animals, but does not maintain a permanent staff presence at the Farmstead.

The Eby Farmstead currently occupies 8,539 square meters of space (2.1 acres) at Waterloo Park, on the East side of the park near the promenade, ION rail corridor and an active network of trails. Drainage problems exist throughout the site which can result in ruts and gullies within the animal enclosures. The animal enclosures have direct access to the public 24 hours a day. Since Eby Farmstead doesn’t have a secondary perimeter fence, there is an inability to establish operational hours to provide the herd with time to rest. The lack of sufficient pasture and grazing areas for the animals is also a frequently observed and reported concern from visitors.

With the ION train running directly beside the herds enclosures, the animals are subject to noise from 5:45 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. daily. In addition to the ION, this rail corridor is used to move freight through the core of Waterloo. The herd also experiences visitors 24 hours a day as the community uses the park to travel through the core of the City. The popularity of Waterloo Park attracts large crowds and is a host location to many festivals and events, and the extended hours of events and larger festivals subject the animals to prolonged disturbances.

The animal enclosure consists of chain-link fence and open-air wood frame structures that are dated and are not representative of the financial invest that the City has recently made at Waterloo Park with the shoreline improvements, accessible playground, ball diamonds 3 & 4 and the improvements to the parking area at Father David Baurer Drive. In 2018 with the introduction of the Central Promenade the animal enclosures were marginally reduced in size to facilitate construction. At this time, the chain-link fence on the west side of the enclosures was upgraded.

In 2024 the bird enclosure will be removed to make way for the expansion of the Eby Farm accessible playground. The birds that historically were on display in the Park were removed from the park in 2020 as a precautionary measure of the Avian Influenz. In 2023 the birds were gifted to the caretaker that had been caring for them.

In 2022 the llamas were moved to another enclosure to meet their needs. There are plans to remove the former llama compound during the expansion of the accessible playground; this area will be topsoiled, seeded, and returned to open space. With the removal of the bird and llama enclosure a total of 3782 m2 of open space will be freed up to be used as public space. This leaves a remaining 4,757 m2 (1.18 acres) of space occupied for the operation of the Eby Farmstead. Best practice for livestock grazing suggests that rotational grazing areas should be provided and depending on the livestock should range in size from 3-5 llamas or alpacas per acre and .5 acres per donkey.

The Eby Farmstead was named after the Eby Family who actively farmed the land until 1890 when they sold the land to the “Town of Waterloo” for the purpose of constructing a public park. Eby Farm has been a beloved part of Waterloo Park since the late 1960s when it was gifted to the City’s parks board of management from the Waterloo Lions Club as a Centennial project. The original project was promoted as a “zoo” (live animal display) but later became known as the Eby Farmstead. The live animal display started out with deer and then grew into having wild animals including black bears, cougars, and timber wolves. In 1990 due to safety concerns for the animals and staff the live animal display transitioned to exhibiting domestic animals.

Some of today’s challenges of the Farmstead are based on changing societal trends and the changing demographics of park visitors. There is a societal shift away from the display of animals for entertainment that needs to be considered as the City explores options for the Eby Farmstead. Visitors to Waterloo Park are less likely to be familiar with agricultural practices that are representative of the animal care at Eby Farmstead. The model of caring for the “livestock” as “livestock” is not acceptable to all visitors.

Past Eby Farm Studies

The 1989 Waterloo Park Plan acknowledged the attraction and popularity of the live animal display and recommended improvements to the area, as does the 2009 WPP.

In 1992 the City commissioned the “Eby Farm Study a program definition and implementation plan”. The study was undertaken to provide staff with a concept and implementation strategy for the development of Eby Farm.

The 1992 study set a mandate to preserve the agricultural heritage of the Waterloo area. The goals and objectives of the study were to make improvements to the animal display that promote the traditional values of respect and care towards animals and an understanding of the historically based working relationship. This was to be accomplished through year-round free educational opportunities and programming in a rural landscape feel.

In 2009, the City undertook the development of the Waterloo Park Plan. Within the Plan there are a number of recommendations, design considerations and a preferred conceptual design for the Farmstead area. The WPP preferred design carried forward some of the design considerations from the 1992 Implementation Plan. The 2009 WPP acknowledges the requirement for improvements and upgrades to the Farmstead area.

The recommendations within the 2009 WPP for Eby Farmstead have not been implemented, however in 2016, an updated vision for the area emerged through the Functional Study of the Central Promenade through Waterloo Park. Although the project focus was towards the Central Promenade, the consultants studied relationships between the promenade and adjacent spaces. Aligned with the current WPP direction to retain and reconfigure the live animal displays, the study identified the Eby Farmstead area as a place that may accommodate programming possibilities of a major urban park such as flexible spaces, inclusion of a central pavilion (covered shelter, wash/change rooms), a central plaza and a natural amphitheatre that offers all-season interest and attractions.

In 2025 the City will be engaging Council, the Public and Staff in a comprehensive review and update to the Waterloo Park Plan. A conscious decision was made to address the Eby Farmstead ahead of the Park Plan renewal to ensure that the correct amount of time, resources and discussion was spent to decide on the role that live animals will play in Waterloo Park. The Eby Farmstead has been studied for the past 35 years with extensive plans and reports documenting the need for improvements, staff feel including this discussion into another Park Plan may not result in change.

In June of 2023 staff met with the Waterloo Park Advisory Committee, a committee of Council, to discuss the future of the Eby Farmstead. Committee members discussed the current operation of the Eby Farmstead and concluded that the public should be engaged before an alternative use for the space is proposed.

As part of the initial review of the Farmstead, staff investigated how other municipally owned farms were operated. Five active municipal farms were reviewed, and the summary shows that all comparators provide controlled access to their animal enclosures that includes a secondary perimeter fence, and all comparators have set operational hours for viewing. :

The City of St. Catharines operates “Happy Rolph Animal Farm,” where visitors can enjoy opportunities to see a variety of farm and domestic animals. Happy Rolph’s Animal Farm is located outside of a residential area in an agricultural setting on the shores of Lake Ontario and has a secondary perimeter fence and admission gates that allows for controlled access with posted operating times of 10am to 8pm for the public to enjoy. Staff are present at the farm during public hours.

The City of Toronto operates three community level animal displays including “Riverdale Farm” in the heart of Cabbagetown, an urban neighbourhood in Toronto. The farm specializes in pioneer breeds of farm animals. The farm is staffed full time during public hours and staff are visible and present to interact with the public. The farm has a secondary perimeter fence that allows for controlled access with posted operating times of 9am to 5pm. Staff are present at the farm during public hours.

The City of Brampton operates a petting zoo at Chinguacousy Park, Brampton’s flagship park. The park is located in an urbanized area and is considered one of Brampton’s busiest parks. Their petting zoo is staffed fulltime, staff are uniformed and easily identifiable for public interaction. There is interpretive signage that is installed throughout the petting zoo for each animal on display. The petting zoo has a secondary perimeter fence that controls access with operating hours of 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. There is a large barn on site that the animals are moved to once the petting zoo is closed for the day. Brampton has heat and weather restrictions in place that trigger a closure of the petting zoo when threshold is reached.

The City of Cambridge marked the end of the Churchill Park animal displays when it found a home for its two remaining peacocks in 2022. The City was quoted as saying “Moving the peacocks out of the park is significant, not only because it is best for their welfare, but it also marks the end of the City’s history of keeping animals penned up in parks.”

Conservation Halton operates an animal display at Mountsberg Conservation Area. Mountsbergs operation closely represents a working modern farm with large pastures and paddocks, they also have a Raptor Centre where they offer educational interactions and presentations. The area has a controlled entranced with public hours of 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.