Animal rights groups to appeal court decision allowing Longueuil deer cull

Two animal rights groups wasted little time in announcing they intend to challenge a Superior Court decision rendered Tuesday that allows the City of Longueuil to proceed with the culling of nearly 100 deer in one of its biggest parks.

The Montreal SPCA and Sauvetage Animal Rescue both said Wednesday evening they would seek leave to appeal to the Quebec Court of Appeal to stop the crossbow hunt of the overpopulated animals from going ahead this fall in Michel-Chartrand Park, on Montreal's South Shore.

The SPCA, which has intervener status in the years-long legal battle, said in a news release that the court "made several errors in its analysis" when it concluded that the inconveniences that would be suffered by the city would outweigh those of the plaintiffs in the case if the planned cull would be suspended.

"The case of the deer in Michel-Chartrand Park is emblematic of an issue that is becoming more prevalent in Quebec, and our intervention aims to broaden the debate and trigger a real reflection on the responsible and ethical management of wildlife in our communities," said Sophie Gaillard, the SPCA's acting executive director and head of legal affairs.

The animal welfare groups had argued that the deer could be relocated instead of killed to solve the overcrowding problems, but the city said that would bring more problems 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.

Anne-France Goldwater, Sauvetage Animal Rescue's lawyer, said the court ought to have placed greater emphasis on the deer as sentient beings with distinguished rights.

"Here, the outrage that this inspires in me is that for a matter that they think is a 'nuisance' because too much of the shrubbery and saplings in the forest are being eaten — therefore, let's kill the deer," she said in an interview Wednesday evening.

"It makes no sense to me in the year 2022 we can have such a complacent attitude about our own environment."

Goldwater said she's hoping to have an emergency hearing in court as early as Friday.

The City of Longueuil said Tuesday following the Superior Court ruling that it would go ahead with the culling of the herd. 

"The complete Response Plan, including the dates of the park's closure and the other procedures to be deployed, will be communicated to the population shortly, before the start of the hunting seasons," the city said in a news release.

"The City will not issue any further comment."

With files from CTV Montreal's Matt Grillo