'I was angry': Montreal woman helps rescue Canada Goose shot by arrow

There's a quaint, little riverfront park in Montreal's north end where Cristina D'Anello likes to take in the sunset and watch Canada Geese mull about. But when she biked there on Monday, she was alarmed at what she saw.

A goose was injured by an arrow about 15 inches long that had punctured her right wing. Unable to remove it on its own, the animal kept pecking at it with her beak.

"At that point, I was in shock. I was angry because I knew that this was an act of cruelty. Somebody getting their kicks injuring a goose," D'Anello said in an interview.

She filmed the injured bird and posted the video on social media to draw attention to what she believed was a blatant case of animal cruelty.

She also called an animal rescue group so that a professional could free the mother goose, which was with its family at André-Corbeil-Dit-Tranchemontagne Park, on the bank of the Rivière-des-Prairies. By the time the rescuers arrived, it was dark and the bird was lost.

D'Anello came back the next day to find the goose was there still injured. Reinforcements came soon after.

The rescue was a joint effort between Montreal Animal Rescue (MAR) and Sauvetage Animal Rescue (SAR), who helped remove the arrow with cutters.

MAR took the bird under its wing and brought it to a vet, which determined there wasn't significant damage.

After it was removed, the bird was released at the park Wednesday afternoon at the same spot where D'Anello found it.

RDP resident Cristina D'Anello said she was 'angry' to see that someone would shoot a Canada Goose with an arrow. (CTV News)

MAR's founder, Cindy Falcone, said while she sees injured wildlife all the time, in her 34 years of rescuing animals, this was only the second time she has seen a goose with an arrow through its body.

"We see this type of cruelty all the time. On a regular basis, we see cats that are brought to the vet that have multiple bullets in them, we see raccoons that are tortured that have their paws tied together … this is not new," she said.

The goose swims in the Rivière-des-Prairies on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, after it was released from the care of animal rescue groups. (CTV News)

She suspects someone shot the bird for fun. "The arrow was not a professional arrow. It was something like the type you can buy very easily online," Cindy said.

"Quebec is not known to have good laws to protect animals, so it's easy for people in Quebec to forget that it is illegal to injure, hurt, or kill an animal. Many people do it because they, sadly, get away with it because of poor laws that protect them. It is not only cruel and a complete lack of compassion, but it is illegal."

D'Anello agrees that more should be done to protect wildlife in Montreal's parks.

"I think there should be more surveillance here, there should be more control. There aren't any signs here that even indicate if you harm an animal — or if you feed an animal for that matter — you will be fined and the reasons why you shouldn't be feeding wildlife because you are putting them in a very vulnerable state," she said.

Falcone says the best thing people can do if they spot injured wildlife is to keep track of the animal for as long as they can until help arrives.