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SPCA to appeal court judgment allowing Longueuil deer cull

The SPCA says it wants to "expand the debate and start a real reflection on the subject of responsible and ethical management of fauna in our communities."

Author of the article:

La Presse Canadienne

La Presse Canadienne

A couple of does feed in Michel Chartrand Park in Longueuil.
A couple of does feed in Michel Chartrand Park in Longueuil. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette files

LONGUEUIL — Displeased that Quebec Superior Court refused to order the city of Longueuil to stop a plan to cull deer in Michel-Chartrand Park, the Montreal branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is turning to the Court of Appeal.

Longueuil says it has a “complete intervention plan” to reduce the size of the deer herd, which it and a panel of experts have agreed poses en ecological danger to the park and is not sustainable at its current size.

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But on Wednesday, the Montreal SPCA announced it intends to appeal Tuesday’s Superior Court decision to the Court of Appeal. The organization said it believes the lower court “made several errors in its analysis.”

Interim general manager Sophie Gaillard said the SPCA has no intention of backing away from this fight.

“The case of deer in Michel-Chartrand Park being emblematic of an issue that is gaining more and more significance in Quebec, our intervention tries to expand the debate and start a real reflection on the subject of responsible and ethical management of fauna in our communities,” her statement reads.

Superior Court judge Andres C. Garin ruled that the inconveniences that Longueuil would face due to the suspension of its cull outweigh those that the plaintiffs would face if the project goes ahead.

A committee made up of citizens and experts spent six months assessing the state of Michel-Chartrand Park and the committee came to the conclusion that the site’s ecosystem was “so degraded it can no longer regenerate.”

In July, Longueuil said they were planning a controlled hunt with crossbows in the autumn to kill most of the deer living in the park. The city said it felt it had to act because the deer population increased by close to 50 per cent over the last year.

  1. A doe keeps tabs on visitors in Michel Chartrand Park in Longeuil, south of Montreal Tuesday Nov. 30, 2021. The city of Longueuil will proceed with a cull of deer in the park after an expert committee concluded their overpopulation represented a threat to the park's ecosystem and, ultimately, the herd's survival.

    Longueuil to proceed with reduction of deer herd

  2. A couple of does feed in Michel Chartrand Park in Longueuil on Tuesday. The city will proceed with a cull of deer in the park after an expert committee concluded their overpopulation represented a threat to the park's ecosystem and, ultimately, the herd's survival.

    Longueuil to proceed with 'urgent' cull of deer herd in Michel-Chartrand Park