Reviews of Saunders Country Critters Zoo Sanctuary & Garden Center (Zoo)

Constance Lapierre

Absolutely a fantastic zoo and my grand daughter (3.5 years old) enjoyed interacting with the animals and feeding them ice cream cones of animal food!

JLD Enterprises Small Engine Repair

Neat place to take the kids. These folks could use your support !

Kelsey Neate

BEST PLACE EVER!!! Not expensive, well kept, and I'm so in love w every animal there. What an experience❤

BLip

My family and I enjoyed our visit many things to see

S K

The animals are cute and the kids love feeing them. The facility needs a major overhaul. The deer in the kangaroo enclosure seemed to bully the kangaroos. My daughter tried to feed one kangaroo but the deer kept pushing it away and eventually bit it. ???? The duck pond had no water and the ducks were in a small pen with eggs in it, one was broken and rotting. Since it is a garden centre as well I would expect it to have beautifully kept gargens. I mean its advertising their products right. Also, bathrooms with running water to wash your hands are always appreciated especially if you have small children and babies.

Dale Haug

Nice little zoo. Animals seem well cared for. Good for little kids with play areas available. Good value.

Brigitte Murphy

The place is bigger than I thought it would. They have lots of different animals. Staff are all super friendly and knowledgeable! My kids had a blast!

Chrystal Workman

Unique experience to see beautiful animals of all different species.

Lapoche Kipend

Great place for garden needs.

Xavier Bourdouleix

Great place to bring your kids. They have a lot of animals, such as lemurs, rabbits, skunks, goats, owls, eagles, lynx, poney, etc...

A Malus

Amazing variety of animals to see and very friendly staff! I second the opinion that a better maintenance would make this place so much more attractive and the electric fence could be marked better(or separated by another fence) so the curious little ones don't get shocked. Otherwise, very fun and interesting place to visit and to feed some of the animals(the white wallaby is a beauty!) We will visit again.

Nicholas Martel

Great price to see a good veriety of animals. They also have feeding tours and times that you can hold the animals!!!

sasdevlin

Great garden centre and animals

Jessica Bennett

Wow I’ve lived in Ottawa for over 30 years and I don’t know why this is the first time I’ve heard of this place. It was a very enjoyable afternoon with my kids. Beautiful animals, lots of places to sit, outhouses everywhere, great play structures and toys for kids to play with. We will definitely make this a recurring visit! ❤️❤️ Thank you Carla!!

Cheryl Rush

Wonderful people, fantastic garden center, zoo was closed due to Covid, left a donation to help.offset the feed costs

S B

Hours on google do not reflect their actual operating hours. Learned this the hard way.

Brigitte Murphy

The place is bigger than I thought it would. They have lots of different animals. Staff are all super friendly and knowledgeable! My kids had a blast!

Arianna Winsor

This was a nice sanctuary and a fun way to spend the day with a young child. My son (3 years) loved feeding the animals, playing on the equipment and toddler toys, and hearing the animal names and facts. They have a small gift shop too.

Narls Barkley

Great little farm with nice owners. Fun for half the day with the kids!

Barbara

It's a nice place to go once in a lifetime. Not too big. Kids enjoy more than adults. It's not very clean in general.

Nico Rieger

Amazing place!! So many rescued animals to see!!

Aom Hildebrand

Love this zoo always. We had a great time every time we visited. A lot of animals that I ever seen here. My kids love this place. Their chip stand also really delicious!

Stacey Dittmer

Always something (or someone) new to see, the kids love wandering around to find their favourites and my oldest even got to be a zookeeper for a day! A great way to spend an afternoon.

Lucster N

I think we went too early in the season. A lot of maintenance and TLC was needed. I appreciate the rescue aspect of what they do. Edited after owner response: Like I said, I do appreciate the animal rescue aspect of what you do. Clearly many of your tenants are being afforded a second lease on life. I'm a nature lover and there were a couple species I'd never heard of before, and a few others I'd never had the pleasure of seeing in person so that was of definite interest. But I know enough that the sign that said 'Bobcat' was in front of an enclosure containing an Ocelot (and a gorgeous one at that). ;0) My 85 year old Mom and her friend really enjoyed themselves.

Pam Foley

Good quality flowers and plants, just lacking some customer service

Melissa McRae

I love this place. The animals are wonderful and happy. This was demonstrated by the Lynx I heard purring happily in its enclosure. My only recommendation is I wish there were more feed despensors in the area of the cows and Illamas. I would also recommend you bring wet wipes with you because you can feed the animals and use hand sanitizer, but you will still want to clean your hands. A wonderful way to spend a few hours ♥️♥️♥️

Marge Simpson

Great way to spend a few hours with the kids. Just off the highway too.

Evan Green

Excellent little place close to Ottawa. Echoing other reviews, the staff seem to care deeply about the animals and are always friendly to the visitors. It's fairly priced and my kids loved seeing and feeding the animals there.

Becky Gillam

Come at 11 on the weekend for the feeding tour.

Richard Boone

I buy all my garden plants from these fine folks. I am always treated like I am their only customer. They have a huge selection of plants, lotsa parking, and when this pandemic is finally behind us, they have a chip truck. It is well worth the very scenic drive from the city, just to see this place. I haven't even gotten to the zoo part yet.... like I said.... well with the drive!!!

Glenn Funamoto

Great experience for the kids. Lots of different, rescued animals. Having an annual subscription and seeing the animals at different times of the year would be educational and fun.

Erika MacDonald

Great local spot to bring the kids

Erika MacDonald

Great local spot to bring the kids

Darrell Francis

Good selection of garden plants with a zoo to see

Sierra Jones

Great place to see some exotic animals. The staff is also very friendly and don't mind taking the time to explain/answer questions!

BLip

My family and I enjoyed our visit many things to see

Yaqian Shen

Lots of animals

Amy Martin

Great value for the experience! Lots of animals to see and learn about. Perfect for our toddler who could interact with some of the animals.

Amy Martin

Great value for the experience! Lots of animals to see and learn about. Perfect for our toddler who could interact with some of the animals.

Mary W.

Large variety of annuals and veggies. Courteous service!

Cain Canning

Definately worth a visit. Very nice place. You can hand feed most of the non dangerous animals like kangaroos and goats. Some of the animals could use a larger cage and more enlightenement. The big cats seem so sweet, I can tell they love their handlers.

Linda Sheldrick

Didn't approve of wild animals being kept in xages

T Merkley

Sad animals with no room to live.

Grant H

Awesome little zoo ! Animals had fresh fruit and vegetables with Full fresh waters. Was a great experience for the little one.

Duane B

This place is awesome for viewing some exotic animals that have been rescued and brought into the Saunders family.

BOBBY ROSS

They really care about animals

David Currie

A great place to go with family and friends to see amazing animals :-).

Fox Mulder

They don't hire qualified people.

Sean Hyatt

Our favourite buddy who we love to visit once a season...his name is Samson. He is glorious.

Brett Wareham

Great place to visit a clean and well run zoo.

Chad Brewer

Love everything about this place.... Needs more shade and water but awesome experience for kids too see animals

Ken Scott

Wonderful place for children.

Rae Green

Great zoo, caring staff, lively animals that are clearly cared for. A fun day!!

John Paul Handrigan

I was surprised at the number of animals they have here. It's a great little place to spend a couple of hours walking through. Kids really enjoyed it. I feel the place needs maintenance. The roads, buildings, fences, etc. all need some update. I believe I saw a couple scrap cars near the back of the park too. These upkeep issues detract from the fun of watching the animals.

Mathieu Lefebvre

Love this Zoo good variety of animals Staff was really friendly and we will go back for sure

Dan O'Connor

The best plants around, great knowledgeable staff

Liam Cote

Great fun time

Sabrina Lapointe

(Translated) I love it, a beautiful little family outing at a low price (Original) J'ai adorer, une belle petite sorti en famille a petit prix

Tim Bresee

Great place to bring the family !! The animals are great, wish most were petable. But there's a reason they are not ! Lol

Tim Bresee

Great place to bring the family !! The animals are great, wish most were petable. But there's a reason they are not ! Lol

Jason Noonan

I had a great time at Saunders Country Critters Zoo. I didn't expect it to be as big as it was! They have all kinds of animals that are very friendly and happy. Its a nice location and set up. They even have some animals the Toronto Zoo doesn't. Overall I had a great time and will for sure be coming back to visit again in the near future!

Francis

Small but dedicated staff.

Dawn L

It was nice. Lots of animals.

Andrew Wolgemuth

This is a small operation, to be certain, but I was greatly impressed by it. My family arrived just in time to join the "Feeding Tour" at 11pm, where one of the zookeepers feeds the animals and offers informative and entertaining commentary. The tour then took us directly to the 1pm exhibition of the most heartmeltingly cute and tame creatures. The experience greatly exceeded my expectations. Saunders may not be quite as impressive as the Metro Toronto Zoo, but this little zoo has a lot of heart, and the experience is rather more personal because of the smaller scale.

Kedar Warriner

Lots of cool animals

alastair francis

The best place to bring people / family to visit the zoo for a good day trip for all ages. The plant farm has good selection of plants for sale at really good prices. I highly recommend visiting at least a minimum of once a year.

Amanda Hendren

Great time! Fun for everyone. Wide variety of animals to see and touch. Great for kids.

Krista Shipman

Lots of great animals from all over the world and great information on them. Staff are very kind and informative.

Jordan LeBlanc

The animal sanctuary was not what I expected. Seeing some of these creatures in restrictive cages was a sad experience. Most animals had cages similar in size or smaller to what you would see in a zoo. Many animals were in need of grooming. The garden centre staff were pleasant, knowledgeable, and helped me pick out some great additions to my garden.

Wandering Wookie

Such a marvelous little place. This is a memory dear in my heart. Loved the roos and raccoons. The peacock was beautiful too. Friendly staff and really cute animals.

Krista Shipman

Lots of great animals from all over the world and great information on them. Staff are very kind and informative.

Taylor Shoots

SO COOL. Hidden gem. We loved it.

Lindsay Conway

My favourite place in the world

Susan Maheux

Beautiful, my tomatoes are doing great

Robert Van Tassel

Excellent zoo. There are lots of different kinds of animals there, most of which you can feed. It took us two hours to walk through and we rushed in some spots. There is a large, covered picnic table area to rest and eat.

stephane parson

Kids loved it. Most animals walk up to you.

Carrie Agius

Such a nice place to see a variety of animals with the family. A great activity to get outdoors with lots of room for social distancing. Cute little gift shop, too.

Denice Christopher

A great place for the kids. A walk through the zoo allows up close viewing of the animals ranging from small to medium in size.

Amy Marques

Enjoyed my visit to this zoo sanctuary today, and my son loved all the animals! Great place for kids! There are some unique species to see, and lots of animals to pet and feed! Can't wait to visit again when the garden centre and food stand are open. :D

BM Walk

My 16 month old daughter loved it. We will return for sure. So many different animals and the staff were super friendly and informative

Donna Charland

Nice selection of plants. You can also visit the zoo or grab a bite from their chip wagon.

Krista

Great family afternoon. The animals are so friendly. One thing I noticed was how well cared for they are. Watching the employees going in to feed them I can tell how much they love these animals. While at a fence that an animal was being fed my kids learned so much from the employee explaining and telling them facts about the animal we were at. She was wonderful. We will be back.

Fiona Stanfield

Friendly staff, decently big and well priced. 2yr old and 1yr old loved it. Almost all hand sanitizer things were empty so bring your own. Ate poutine from the chip truck. Was pretty good and generous with gravy. Fantastic way to spend morning/lunch out.

Johna Lee Widmann

Took my grandson, who is 7. He loved it. Great outing for 8 and under.

Frank H

Had a great time. Very friendly staff. lots to see keeping the younger ones entertained was a breeze.

Wolf Latino

Just visited this zoo today had an amazing time was very clean animals kept in perfect condition and seemed very happy also there was lots of animals to view and spacious keeping areas also loved how when you entered the zoo grounds you could hear all the sounds of the animals continuously through zoo staff was polite and loved how friendly and happy the animals were and how they came right up to you! Had a blast! I’d definitely recommend to anyone visit here!!

Steve Walsh

A lot more to this zoo than I expected.

3 Sixty Secure ITSupport

Great place to visit and picnic. Clean, animals are happy!

A M

Amazing! Such a wonderful little Sanctuary to view animals. + you are able to feed a bunch of them. Would absolutely recommend! Perfect for all ages and there is a pavilion with picnic tables for lunch.

Dale Suares

Found this place on our drive back to Toronto from Mt Tremblant. Our kids had a lot of fun and the staff was great.

Doug Duff

Interesting place to bring the kids to see some unique animals. Price was reasonable.

Dt Cm

No what I expected, honestly it felt like some of the animals weren't happy

Peter Bown

A hidden gem in the Ottawa area. 40 minutes from Barrhaven. Very quiet place with an incredible flower nursery. Sometimes if the weather is unsettled they'll give you free passes or discounts for the next visit. The animals are great. We go here multiple times each year.

Dawn Morritt

Always fun the animals are great they had some new macaws very beautiful birds!

JF Larente

From the moment you walk in and see the cute gift shop, to the end of the road where you can observe a recently rescued Bald Eagle and Barn Owl, you are amazed at the variety of animals Saunders Country Critters cares for. If you drop in on the weekend, follow the feeding tour at 11AM and at the end of the tour (about 1PM) join the staff for what they call "Show & Share". That's when they bring out some of the cutest baby animals you could ever imagine. Have you ever had a chance to pet a baby coatimundi? Now's your chance! If you're looking for something to do during the week, no problem, they're open daily from 10 till 4. You would get the tour BUT if you can find someone in a purple Saunders shirt and ask if you could possibly see one of the babies they will be happy to oblige! They're such a friendly bunch over there. We've been season's pass holders for 2 years in a row now and I don't know why I'm only posting a review now! The zoo is open until September 2nd. Enjoy!

Trevor Moore

Neat place for rescue animals and bought some flowers and pepper plants from garden center

Dawson Mulligan

Kids loved it!

J Byker

Went a couple weeks ago and my son loved it! Way more animals than I anticipated. The value for the price is excellent. Cant wait to go back!

Kaye Love

Visited the garden centre - great plants at great prices and very knowledgeable and helpful staff!!!

Conroy A

A great place outside of the city for an adventure.

Vicki Bencze

Had a really good time, lots of space to move around, a number of different animals. Grandson enjoyed the animals and playing on the plane and children's area.

Christine Dube

Very clean place very friendly staff who are happy to assist with any questions or anything they can help you with and very clean spacious room for the animals very well fed and very healthy and happy animals, visited this Saturday our car broke down and couldn’t ask for a more kind person Garry thank you so much for going above and beyond to help getting us a tow and for being so understanding and kind and truly trying everything in your power to help us it was greatly appreciated! Can’t wait to visit again next season! Me and my daughter love this place!

Kyle Mclean

Great time!

Tony

I love the garden center here.

Chris Frost

Great place. Clean. Lots of animals who look well taken care of. Great experience for my 5 and 1 year old

Chad Cledgett

This place is great! Much larger, and way more animals than I expected!

Charles-H. Trudel

(Translated) A lot of animals! And bigger than we thought. It takes about 2 hours to do the tour. A very pleasant visit. (Original) Beaucoup d’animaux! Et plus grand que l’on pensait. Il faut compter environ 2 heures pour bien faire le tour. Une visite très agréable.

cindy mcfadden

Great experience. Our second visit with our grandchildren. They loved feeding the animals and seeing many exotic animals they wouldn't otherwise experience like kangaroos and wild cats!

David Li

Good

byn Len

I enjoy your visit at saunders country critters. ...would go back nice little zoo

Jason Blow

Great afternoon of visiting with the animals. Easily accessible South of Ottawa. Look for the Garden Centre signs! Plenty of parking (busier on weekends). Small building to pay for entrance, and some snacks and gifts(a little on the expensive side for a family of four) Paths are gravel, and worn grass trails. Wear appropriate footwear depending on how the weather has been. The animals! Absolutely tons of them to see. You can hear them howling right away. Plenty of exotic birds, cats, oppossum, kangaroo, and all kinds of other animals. Highly recommend the animal show! Up close and ability to let the animals, highlight of the visit. Picnic table if you want to bring food to eat. What to Bring: Water Bug spray Camera Hat Sunglasses Nice country feel with most help as volunteers. Owner is very hands on and knowledgeable. Animals are almost all rescues, and can be very busy for them, be patient. Great day with the family, hope you enjoy as much as we did. Jay

Matthew Anderson

Fun place. Lots of animals, some of them you can feed. They also bring out a bunch of animals you can let your kids touch.

Cathy Worth

Excellent visit .. we were recommended by a neighbour ... Prices for plants were very reasonable. Will definitely be going back along with our grandchildren to visit the Critter Sanctuary

Thomas DeLong

Peaceful stroll to see animals normally not seen, be nice to see some extra funds go out to them for helping with maintenance

S Snippe

Healthy beautiful plants clearly labeled. Currently lots of selection. These beauties haven't been shipped, loaded, unloaded and stored like the stuff you find at the grocery stores. Prices are reasonable, debit and credit accepted. Help there if you need it. Covid measures in place. Why buy anywhere else?

Judy Bellefeuille

Lots to see very nice staff

Brent Anderson

Great experience. Lots of animals, 2 playgrounds, plus picnic areas to stop for a snack. Lots of fun for our young kids.

Jody Hicks

Amazing staff. Get there before eleven a.m and see them feed the animals and learn interesting facts. Stay for the show after the guided tour and go to the show and get a close up of some animals and even touch them.

Elaine J.

Wonderful place with a variety of animals. Fun for adults and kids and I love that it is a sanctuary dedicated to helping animals.