Because these “beasts are suffering”, the Minister of the Environment of Quebec will allow hunting with arrowheads and crossbows to kill white-tailed deer in national parks.
“There are different options that will be evaluated and it is our specialists who will be able to decide. However, this will require a regulatory amendment because currently, we cannot hunt in national parks,” confirmed the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette.
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
“This is a change that will be made in the coming months.”
However, this hunt will not be open to everyone. This is a regulation for the sound management of populations in order to control the livestock.
too many deer
The “manifest” overpopulation of white-tailed deer in national parks has caused the department to reconsider its position, despite the risks of causing an outcry from people who campaign against animal cruelty.
“I know that some people may be moved by the fate of the deer, but I tell these people that they are animals that are currently suffering. They are too numerous in a given territory and may lack food in particular,” he explained. “It is simply for the well-being of these species.”
He thus wishes to avoid that Quebec “finds itself indefinitely” with this type of problem in the parks, more precisely in the sectors of Montérégie.
“Who can drive them away? It remains to be determined,” he said, adding that the meat from this hunt will be donated to charity.
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Trial
Since Monday, the court has been considering the saga affecting the deer in Michel-Chartrand Park, in Longueuil. Opponents of reducing the deer herd are numerous.
Sauvetage Animal Rescue, represented by lawyer Anne-France Goldwater, is at the heart of the fight.
The court had forced the city to put a stop to the euthanasia of the animals pending a more in-depth decision.
The Minister of the Environment argues that the time to announce the opening of hunting in national parks has no connection with the start of these procedures.
“We talked about it on several forums,” he said. “There is no rule violation.”