PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
“It is an important and courageous decision taken by the new mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, to euthanize some sixty deer from Michel-Chartrand park”, writes our columnist.
It is an important and courageous decision taken by the new mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, to euthanize some sixty deer from Michel-Chartrand park.
A decision that goes beyond the fate of these animals and that of the South Shore Park.
Because by promising to stay the course and put into practice what biologists and ethicists recommend, Mr.me Fournier comes to say that the rational must prevail over the irrational. That we cannot let those who try to hack public debates with threats win.
Standing up as a bulwark against extremism is crucial. Fear of violent reactions from a minority cannot dictate the agenda of elected officials.
We must therefore speak of courage because, in this matter, the opposition movement is both terribly naive and outrageously brutal. As if the universe of Walt Disney mingled with that of a mafia movie.
Some animal lovers lose all rationality in the face of the beauty of fawns and does – a phenomenon documented and aptly dubbed “Bambi syndrome”. We forget that extreme overpopulation like the one in Longueuil is absolutely not viable for ecosystems. The plants are ravaged. Parasites, including the tick that causes Lyme disease, find the ideal conditions to proliferate. The deer themselves compete for food.
The solutions ? Biologists have studied them all. And the one that is needed, no offense to Me Anne-France Goldwater, is to eliminate deer. Moving them would cause too much stress for the animals. Many of them would eventually die – and this time at the end of a painful and unacceptable process. The idea was rejected by the ethics committee of the University of Montreal.
Denying these conclusions is unfortunately too widespread today, and which COVID-19 has exploded: that of trusting your own impressions and preconceptions more than analyzes, evidence and knowledge. ‘expertise.
Many have already noted all the absurdity and inconsistency of striving to save these 60 animals in particular when 48,424 deer were slaughtered during the hunting season in 2020 and animals are being made. zigzagging in the slaughterhouses of Quebec with the blows of the thousands every day.
The case turns into a nightmare when the pursuit of these fanciful ideas turns into a fight. We remember that the former mayor of Longueuil Sylvie Parent gave up eliminating deer from Michel-Chartrand park after having suffered death threats.
The one who succeeded him was not spared. Catherine Fournier has already sent the police to a “serious” threat. Unfortunately, this is not surprising in the current climate of polarization. Threatening a mayoress who seeks to solve a problem of overpopulation of deer is like throwing gravel at Justin Trudeau in protest against sanitary measures. Or go and demonstrate in front of Horacio Arruda’s home. It blithely crosses the line of acceptable criticism and that should concern us.
In the case of deer, Catherine Fournier has all the more legitimacy to act as she announced during the electoral campaign her intention to follow the recommendations of the concertation table created to find solutions. And that she won the town hall with 61% of the votes.
Mme Fournier is now waiting – wisely – for the ethics committee of the University of Montreal to approve the proposed protocol. Hopefully we can then take a deep breath and finally move on to another call.