Press release – For immediate release

Montréal, October 5 2022 – Yesterday, the Superior Court rendered its decision on the Safeguard Order in the Michel-Chartrand Park deer case. After hearing arguments from all parties, including the Montreal SPCA, which is acting as an intervener in the case, on September 28, the Court refused to order the suspension of the deer cull planned this fall by the City of Longueuil.

In his decision, the Honourable Judge Andres C. Garin stated that by granting animals the status of “sentient beings”, Quebec law recognizes that they have “an intrinsic value that is not exclusively dependent on their usefulness to human beings”*. The Court also considered that the death of the deer constitutes “irreparable harm” to the plaintiffs, who “clearly have a real interest in the fate of the herd at Michel-Chartrand Park”* and who are entitled to act in the public interest in bringing the matter before the courts. However, the judge concluded that the inconveniences that the City of Longueuil would suffer if the cull were suspended outweighed the inconveniences that the plaintiffs would suffer if it were maintained, even though this would effectively put an end to their case.

The SPCA believes that the Superior Court made several errors in its analysis and will soon file an application for leave to appeal to the Quebec Court of Appeal to have this decision reviewed.

“Despite this first setback before the Superior Court, the Montreal SPCA is not ready to give up on this case,” insists Sophie Gaillard, Acting Executive Director and Director of Animal Advocacy and Legal Affairs at the Montreal SPCA. “The case of the deer in Michel-Chartrand Park is emblematic of an issue that is becoming more prevalent in Quebec, and our intervention aims to broaden the debate and trigger a real reflection on the responsible and ethical management of wildlife in our communities.”

The Montreal SPCA is represented in this case by Marie-Claude St-Amant, a partner at Melançon Marceau Grenier Cohen, LLP, who also chairs the SPCA’s board of directors. 

*SPCA translation

For additional information in the lawsuit, visit:

• Small Victory for Deer in Michel-Chartrand Park: The Superior Court Prohibits the City of Longueuil From Proceeding With a Cull Until the Application Is Heard
• Despite Its Undertakings, the City of Longueuil Intends To Move Forward With a Lethal Operation
• Longueuil Deer Cull Suspended
• Legal Challenge to Longueuil Deer Cull: The Montreal SPCA Seeks to Intervene in the Case
• Longueuil Deer: What If There Were a Better Approach?

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Source: Montreal SPCA

Media contact: Anita Kapuscinska, Senior Consultant, Corporate Development and Media Relations, Montreal SPCA, 514-656-2760, anitak@spca.com.

About the Montreal SPCA – Founded in 1869, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (now known simply as the Montreal SPCA) was the first animal-welfare organization in Canada. Today, the Montreal SPCA is the largest animal protection organization in Quebec, speaking on behalf of animals wherever there is ignorance, cruelty, exploitation, or neglect.