By Debbie Lawes, Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed,
This past year has been a particularly deadly one for wildlife in Ottawa. In April, residents watched helplessly as a police officer shot and killed a two-year-old black bear in Kanata.
Late last year in the Riverside Park South area, three coyotes were trapped and killed. Residents witnessed a fourth coyote dragging a leg-hold trap, while a fifth animal was found in a horrifically cruel neck snare.
Even in cases where an animal is tranquilized and relocated (as happened this week to a bear in Nepean), there are concerns that the animal will be dumped in an unfamiliar area where food sources may not be available.
...We need leadership from our elected representatives to ensure past mistakes are not repeated. This starts with councillors, notably the Environment and Climate Change Committee, standing up to city bureaucracy and challenging a culture of secrecy, control and obstruction.