Animal rights activists challenge the Longueuil deer cull in court
Animal rights advocates pleaded at the Longueuil courthouse Wednesday morning to halt the culling of more than 60 deer in the city's Michel-Chartrand Park.
The City of Longueuil was ready to put down the deer this fall, claiming there wasn't enough food in the park to sustain their growing population.
But the lawsuit from the Sauvetage Animal Rescue group put the project to a stop, at least until now.
"The argument I’m bringing before the judge today is that there's no need and no urgency to kill the herd of deer [...] when we have so many other plans to propose to save these beautiful animals," said Anne-France Goldwater, a lawyer representing animal rights activists.
She argued for an extension of the safeguard order that the court issued earlier in the spring.
Meanwhile, the city's experts say the deer cannot be relocated into the wild since their domestication in Longueuil made them too vulnerable to predators. Some residents have also complained that the deer jump over the park's fence and eat cedar trees on the city streets.
Still, the Montreal SPCA animal rights group, acting as an intervenor in the case, will also argue that the government should consider the deer's sentient nature and welfare.
As the Civil Code of Quebec considers animals to be sentient beings, the SPCA believes the deer's interest in staying alive should be taken into account.
According to the organization, the City of Longueuil's bow-and-arrow culling method is "problematic."
"Bow hunting frequently causes wounds that do not kill the target animal instantly, such that the time to death can be prolonged and the animal remains conscious while dying from massive blood loss," the Montreal SPCA said in a press release on Tuesday.
Non-lethal population control methods such as sterilization or chemical contraception should be prioritized, the group added.
"Lethal methods should only be considered as a last resort."
Should the judge approve the extension, the City of Longueuil will not be able to execute its plan until next year.
With files from CTV Montreal's Stéphane Giroux
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.