Aucune accusation n’a encore été portée contre l’homme qui avait foncé délibérément sur de jeunes orignaux avec son véhicule et qui avait filmé son geste, en août dernier, sur la Côte-Nord.
« Aucune décision n’a encore été prise », a déclaré à La Presse Patricia Johnson, porte-parole adjointe du Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) du Québec, sans préciser pourquoi.
« Le délai relatif à l’étude d’un dossier par un procureur aux poursuites criminelles et pénales varie d’un dossier à l’autre dépendamment des circonstances de chaque dossier », a-t-elle indiqué.
Parallèlement, le service de la protection de la faune du ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP) évalue lui aussi la possibilité de porter des accusations.
« Pour le moment, les travaux [d’analyse] are continuing,” said ministry spokesperson Daniel Labonté.
Depending on the information obtained and the expertise required, an investigation can last several weeks or even months.
Daniel Labonté, spokesperson for the MELCCFP
Several steps still have to be taken in order to gather all the elements necessary to file a report with the Bureau des infractions et amendes du Québec, said Mr. Labonté.
Prosecutions for deliberately killing big game with a vehicle could be brought, among other things, an offense punishable by a fine of between $2,500 and $12,500, in addition to a possible prison sentence, specifies the Ministry.
Joint investigation
Investigators from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and wildlife protection officers had questioned the man who had engaged in this macabre car chase the day after the publication of the video, which had caused a stir in the beyond the North Shore.
“Get away, my tabarnak, because you’re going to taste it as a wafer,” said the individual, rushing at two panicked fawns, then rolling over one of them, then backing up to run over him again.
His vehicle had been seized by the police force as “offense property”, but the suspect had not been arrested, had then indicated the SQ, which had then transmitted the result of its investigation to the DPCP.
wind of change
These analysis times do not surprise lawyers practicing animal rights that The Press has consulted.
“It may very well be that they do an in-depth investigation, it may be completely legitimate,” said John-Nicolas Morello, founder of the non-profit organization Droit animalier Québec.
He even considers that it is “encouraging that there is an investigation”.
Crimes against animals are now taken more seriously than in the past, adds his colleague Chloé Surprenant.
“I feel that there is a wind of change,” she said, pointing out that the penalties for this type of crime were increased in 2008 in the Criminal Code.
However, there remains a lack of application, believes Me Surprisingly, citing the opinion of an Alberta Court of Appeal judge who stated, in a 2021 decision, that “the criminal law recognizes the offence, but the sentence imposed often does not reflect the seriousness behavior”.