Brigitte Bardot condemns the City of Longueuil’s controversial plan to cull most of the deer that live in a municipal park.
In an open letter published Tuesday on her foundation’s website, the former French actress asks Mayor Catherine Fournier to stop what she calls the “white-tailed deer crossbow slaughter project” in the Michel Chartrand Park.
The City explained last summer that this park is home to nearly 10 times more deer than the ecosystem can support. The municipal administration maintains that this overcrowding is dangerous for animals and for nearby residents, due to the risk of road accidents.
The crossbow slaughter was supposed to take place this fall, but the operation was halted after the Quebec Court of Appeal accepted a request from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Montreal to hear the case. . The Superior Court had previously refused, on October 4, to order the suspension of the felling project.
Brigitte Bardot, who had vigorously fought the seal hunt in Canada at the end of the 1970s, underlined this week that crossbow hunting “is a cruel practice and totally prohibited in France and in many countries”. She pleads in particular that this hunt “does not guarantee that the animal will be killed on the spot”.
She therefore urges the City of Longueuil to “leave the lives of these animals by providing an ethical and sustainable solution to the problem”.
“Don’t leave the image of Canada, symbol of my first fight against the seal hunt, stained with the blood of these poor deer who are just waiting to live! “, we read in his open letter.
“At a time when biodiversity is more than ever in danger, understand the anger and indignation that your decision arouses. It is our common duty to pacify our relationship with nature. »
The case will be heard on appeal on November 25.
Since 2017, the deer herd in Michel-Chartrand Park has tripled to 108 animals, while the capacity of this territory is only 10 to 15 deer, according to documents submitted to the Court.