The City of Montreal has launched an operation to capture and euthanize coyotes whose behavior has become problematic in the Pointe-aux-Trembles sector, in the east of the island. Attacks against pets, and even humans, having multiplied, the City believes that it has no choice but to act.
A month ago, as he did every evening, Jean-Sébastien Auger let his dog out into the yard surrounded by a six-foot high fence. Since Ti-Pouel used to yelp at passers-by, Mr. Auger didn’t care when he heard his barking. Until an unusual cry is heard. ” I went to see. I saw the coyote with my little dog in its mouth and it jumped the fence,” says Mr. Auger, still shaken by the loss of his companion of the past seven years. He never saw his dog again.
“I have spent my whole life in Pointe-aux-Trembles. I never thought that cases like this could happen, ”he says. “Coyotes have no business in Pointe-aux-Trembles. We’re in town here. We have children and animals. The city needs to do something. »
Precisely, after having identified a growing number of reports and attacks of coyotes against pets, especially dogs, and against humans, the City decided to proceed with the capture of coyotes with “deviant behavior”. Two individuals are targeted by this operation.
“What is sad is that these are coyotes who are no longer afraid of humans at all,” explains Caroline Bourgeois, mayor of Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles (RDP-PAT) and responsible from large parks to the executive committee, which urges citizens not to feed wild animals.
The elected official indicates that the City came to this decision after noting that despite attempts to scare citizens, some coyotes did not react or approached humans more. “We have a neighborhood that feels besieged. It is now that a CPE sends a notice to parents to say that there will be a ban on walks in the nature park [de la Pointe-aux-Prairies]. Teenage girls get off the bus and are followed by coyotes or surrounded. Others were outright charged for walking their dog. Dogs have died. »
During an information session on April 12, citizens testified to their encounters with coyotes, she says. “Some said that they no longer left their homes, that they were afraid for their children who take the Coulée-Grou path to go to school. People were crying, shaking. At some point, we can’t go on like this anymore. »
Since May 2021, the City has received 180 reports of the presence of coyotes in RDP-PAT.
The experts made observations and filmed the coyotes. The City is therefore able to identify problematic individuals, maintains Mme Bourgeois. At least two coyotes are in the crosshairs of the City. Traps were installed in inaccessible places, but their location was not disclosed.
Animals with behavior deemed deviant will be euthanized, said Caroline Bourgeois. According to the elected, the relocation of these animals could not be an option and some are sick. “Experts recommend that coyotes with deviant behavior be euthanized. But we don’t do it lightly, ”she says.
In 2018, the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville experienced similar problems with coyotes and some of them were shot. The problematic situation has since been resolved.
Concerns around daycare
Located near the Pointe-aux-Prairies nature park, the CPE Mademoiselle Pluche has decided to suspend children’s walks in the woods. Until last March, its general manager, Jocelyne Caron, had never considered coyotes a problem. But when she saw one in broad daylight in the parking lot of the CPE, she began to be concerned. Even more when she heard the testimonies of other citizens. “What bothers me is not the fact that they are coyotes, but that they are coyotes who no longer act like coyotes. They are no longer afraid of humans,” she explains.
Mme Caron points out that the CPE sector is one of the places where reports of coyotes have been the most numerous. The educators no longer felt comfortable going to the park — unofficially renamed “Pointe-aux-Coyotes” — with the children and the parents were worried, she said. In April, the board of directors therefore decided to no longer allow walks in the nature park until further notice. “I feel like the woods belong to the coyotes. Sectors are closed, some for up to six months. I have nothing against coyotes, but I don’t know why we protect them so much,” she adds.
The SPCA disappointed
The Montreal SPCA believes that the City should have considered other options before proceeding with the capture and euthanasia of the coyotes. “We are very disappointed that the City is proceeding with such an operation because it goes against our recommendations,” said Ms.e Sophie Gaillard, interim director general of the organization.
According to her, it is time for Quebec to adopt wildlife management methods that respect animal welfare and are non-lethal. Strategies like those advocated by Coyote Watch Canada should have been tried, she argues. One of them consists in inculcating in coyotes the fear of human beings with an adapted conditioning and this, without having to capture them. “It’s something that has been proven elsewhere,” says Me Gaillard who indicates that the Municipality of Niagara Falls has succeeded in managing the coyote population by applying the advice of Coyote Watch Canada.