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Verdun, November 3, 2008 — The Verdun Borough hereby wishes to inform the public of an unfortunate incident that happened on Saturday, November 1 in the L'Île-des-Sœurs neighbourhood, when a dog was fatally injured in a beaver trap.

The incident occurred along a steep edge of the waterfront near the Club Marin I and II condo buildings. The beaver traps had been set up at a few strategic locations on the territory in order to thwart the devastating effects of these rodents that continue to destroy the trees on the island, even attacking some types that are often more than one hundred years old.

These traps—four in all—had been placed in locations that are generally inaccessible to the public, by a professional trapper, hired by a sub-contractor of the Borough. Borough officials hadn't been notified of this change in the method of capture. In past years, cages were used by such firms to capture these animals, which were then released back into nature, outside Montréal. Nevertheless, given the fact that this practice is now prohibited by the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune, the use of traps has since become the recommended solution in places outside the marked trails.

The Borough intends to get to the bottom of this matter. In the meantime, it has issued instructions to have the traps removed.

Once again, the Borough reminds residents that all over Borough territory, it is prohibited to walk a dog without a leash, except in areas indicated as dog parks.