New chapter in the deer saga at Parc Michel-Chartrand in Longueuil. The city announced Wednesday its intention to suspend the slaughter of about 60 animals planned for next fall while a court resolves a dispute over the issue.
Posted 4:39pm Updated 5:07pm
Eric Pierre Champagne The press
The town of Longueuil on Wednesday announced its intention to postpone its operation to trap and euthanize around sixty deer next fall. “The city undertakes not to proceed out of respect for the court that must decide the issue,” said Longueuil spokesman Louis-Pascal Cyr.
Recall that the lawyer Anne-France Goldwater, representing the organization Sauvetage Animal Rescue, appealed last month. The approach aims to prevent the euthanasia of animals recommended by an expert panel.
The Michel-Chartrand Park, with an area of less than 2 km², could house at most fifteen deer. The city says it has reviewed all options: A roundtable has also recommended the animals’ euthanasia, as they judged relocation to be too risky for the animals’ welfare.
A position particularly contested by Sauvetage Animal Rescue and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), who are being supported in their efforts by lawyer Anne-France Goldwater.
“The city’s game plan will not change,” emphasizes Louis-Philippe Cyr. We simply decided to make this commitment in order to get a quick decision from the court. »
A hearing date is expected to be set soon.
Meanwhile, the city of Longueuil fell thousands of diseased ash trees in the Michel Chartrand Park. About 10,000 trees have to be cut down because of the emerald ash borer. The community plans to plant five new trees for every tree felled. An operation estimated at $8 million.
Last January, biologist Michel La Haye accompanied La Presse to Michel-Chartrand Park to see that deer food was becoming increasingly scarce. “There’s nothing left for the deer to eat here,” he remarked.
“Science has spoken. There were two different approaches that came to the same conclusion, namely the slaughter of the deer. For the experts who sat on the committee, animal welfare is paramount,” concluded the biologist.
Lawyer and animal rights activist Anne-France Goldwater slammed Longueuil’s decision, calling it a “massacre”. “It’s cruelty. Basically we want to murder Bambi when there are several other solutions on the table. »
Former Mayor of Longueuil, Sylvie Parent, had received death threats after the city first announced its intention to kill fifteen deer in the fall of 2020.
Sauvetage Animal Rescue plans to relocate the animals, an option criticized by an Animal Use Ethics Committee, which reports a high risk of the animals dying in transit.