Saturday evening, the teams ofUPA proceeded to capture two cows and a calf in the pen set up to attract them with feeding points. Hidden personnel closed the gates of the enclosure after the last animals entered it, explained Jean-Sébastien Dubé, spokesperson for theUPA Mauricie.
We are happy that it is behind us. This is a file that has grown much larger than we thought.
he commented.
L’UPA indicates that the animals seem to be in good shape and that the cows that have been back on the farm for a few weeks are adapting well.
Their owner, Pierre Lapointe, dairy producer in Saint-Barnabé, assures that the cows will be kept in the buildings so that they get used to other animals. He predicts that they will be able to return to the fields next summer once they have acclimatized to fences and herd life.
Call for caution
Caution is required for the mayor of Saint-Sévère Jean-Yves Saint-Arnaud, who asked theUPA to leave the capture equipment on the site until Wednesday, the time to make sure that there are no more free animals left.
20, others who have seen25, others28 […] We will keep the enclosures for three days, then if with the cameras we can see that there are other animals, we will also recover them”,”text”:”We had different figures, there are farmers who have seen20, others who have seen25, others28 […] We will keep the enclosures for three days, then if with the cameras we can see that there are other animals, we will recover them too””>We had different figures, there are growers who saw 20, others who saw 25, others 28 […] We will keep the enclosures for three days, then if with the cameras we can see that there are other animals, we will recover them too
he specified.
Jean-Yves St-Arnaud, Mayor of Saint-Sévère
Photo : Radio-Canada
In retrospect, the first magistrate also believes that all the stakeholders involved in this case should have intervened earlier. According to him, there is a communication that has not been well established between the owner, the Municipality and all the stakeholders
.
L’UPA Mauricie confirms that all the animals have returned to their owner and that the operations are well and truly over.
She indicates that an assessment of the capture strategy will be made and that a reflection will be carried out on the communication between the collaborators. L’UPA thanks its partners and gives a positive assessment of the intervention.
UPAit’s really [faire] communications, media and the actual capture operation. the MAPAQ also had a role to play, the Municipality [de Saint-Sévère] also. I think that everyone played their role well in that regard”,”text”:”We each have our roles, then I think that our role at the UPA is to really [faire] communications, media and the actual capture operation. The MAPAQ also had its role to play, the Municipality [de Saint-Sévère] also. I think everyone played their role well on that side””>We each have our roles, then I think our role at theUPAit’s really [faire] communications, media and the actual capture operation. the MAPAQ also had a role to play, the Municipality [de Saint-Sévère] also. I think everyone played their part well on that side.
said its president Martin Marcouiller.
The agricultural organization mentions that the equipment used for the capture will be removed next week.
Several attempts
L’UPA Mauricie became aware of the situation last November. From then on, measures were taken to recover the bovids. At the end of November, an enclosure was set up with the aim of attracting them with food. The teams had anticipated that the animals would be forced to turn to feed from the paddock as corn in the fields became scarcer.
L’UPA a captured the cows progressively during the month of Decemberpledging patience in the face of harsh weather conditions.
In total, theUPA recovered 13 cows and two calves, which were born during the run. Last spring, 24 animals had fled, according to theUPA Mauricie. They had escaped from a farm in Saint-Barnabé, in Mauricie, after bad weather damaged their enclosure. The herd had subsequently found refuge in a forest in Saint-Sévère, the neighboring municipality.
Beasts seen in a field of Saint-Sévère at the beginning of December.
Photo : Radio-Canada
The presence of the cows then presented a safety problem for residents and motorists, since the animals had returned to their wild state.
The authorities took turns throwing the ball at each other. the MAPAQ could only issue statements of offence, and the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks claimed that this matter did not come under its authority, since the animals are in fact a breeding herd.
The SPA couldn’t intervene either since they are not pets. Finally, the SQ could not support the intervention teams because the cows did not represent a danger to the population.
Therefore, of cowboys du Festival western de Saint-Tite were called in as reinforcements, but to no avail. The idea of the enclosure was finally retained and gradually showed positive results.
With the collaboration of Jacob Côté