너구리 잡나?

    어릴 적 온돌방을 데우기 위해 아궁이에 불을 땐 기억이 있습니다. 가마솥이 걸린 부뚜막이 있고 그 아래 어느 곳엔가 아궁이가 있었지요. 아궁이에 불을 지피면 연기가 온 부엌에 가득했습니다. 매운 기운에 눈물이 줄줄 흘르고 마른 기침을 해댔지요. 이런 모습을 보면서 식구들은 “너구리 잡나?”며 웃곤 했습니다. 하지만 말로만 들었지 너구리를 직접 본 적은 없었습니다.

캐나다로 와보니 너구리가 많습니다. 거리를 지나면서 차에 치여 죽은 너구리를 보곤 합니다. 집 뒤쪽이 공원과 맞닿아 있어 너구리가 다녀가곤 하지요. 눈 쌓인 뜰에 나있는 너구리 가족의 발자국을 보면 다녀간 줄로 압니다. 너구리는 사람과 비슷하게 다섯 손가락을 가지고 있어 쓰레기통을 뒤지는 데 명수입니다. 벽을 뚫고 지붕으로 들어가 집을 망쳐놓기도 합니다.

토론토의 한 시민(동양인)이 눈 치우는 삽으로 너구리 새끼를 내리쳤습니다. 너구리가 하도 집을 망쳐대니 알밉기도 하고 쫓아내도 계속 찾아와 말썽을 부리니 홧김에 그랬겠지요. 이 일로 벌금을 물고 사회봉사활동을 명받았습니다. 

가난했던 어린 시절 시골 동네였었다면 너구리를 잡았다고 좋아라했겠지요. 문화가 다르고 환경이 다르니 사회봉사활동을 하고 벌금을 물어야 합니다. 법과 규범은 환경과 시대에 따라 달라지나 봅니다.

 

Man who attacked raccoons with a shovel pleads guilty

 

Dong Nguyen sentenced to pay $1,365 restitution for vet care and do 100 volunteer hours at a humane society shelter. (Dong Nguyen has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in connection with a 2011 attack on a family of raccoons in the back yard of his Toronto home)

 

The raccoon saga of Dong Nguyen finally ended Tuesday.

Nguyen, 55, pleaded guilty at Old City Hall court to beating three baby raccoons with a shovel, probably killing one and breaking another’s foreleg, because they were destroying his garden in 2011.

He had made 19 court appearances before the Crown and his defence lawyer Peter Scully struck a deal by which a dangerous weapons charge was withdrawn and he received a conditional discharge on the charge of cruelty to animals.

Nguyen must pay $1,365 in restitution to Procyon Wildlife, where the raccoon with the broken foreleg was treated, and he must complete 100 hours of community service at a humane society shelter.

Scully and the Crown suggested 40 hours of community service, but Justice Marvin Zuker bumped it to 100. “It’s just plain ignorant to kill defenceless baby raccoons,” said Zuker. “This man should work with animals for 100 hours to gain empathy toward defenceless creatures who cannot respond except for in pain.”Nguyen declined to comment outside court afterwards.

York University biology professor Suzanne MacDonald, a raccoon expert who produced the CBC documentary Raccoon Nation, said people must learn to live with raccoons in Toronto.

“There’s no way to get rid of them,” she said. “It’s impossible.” The Ministry of Natural Resources pegs Toronto’s raccoon population at about 100 per square kilometre.

Pest control companies may trap raccoons but can’t relocate them more than one kilometre away, which means they’ll be right back, MacDonald said.

“The goal should be to reduce conflict,” she said. “So don’t beat them with shovels.”

Toronto Animal Services supervisor Fiona Venedam said residents can reduce conflict by employing a number of useful tricks:Secure your garbage, cut tree branches that overhang homes, cover access holes to garages or attics, cover grape vines with wire mesh, maybe even sprinkle some oil of mustard around your property to deter them, she said. “It’s more of a community effort than anything,” she said.

Venedam said motion-sensor sprinklers or lights can help keep raccoons out of gardens, and emphasized routinely emptying barbecue grease pans in the summer. If they’re after grubs in your lawn, sprinkle detergent on the lawn, rinse it and it’ll kill the grubs.

Nguyen attacked the raccoons in his backyard, at his home near Bloor St. W. and Lansdowne Ave., in June 2011, the end of breeding season.

Prosecutor Cara Sweeny said the mother raccoon was seen carrying two motionless 3-month-old babies afterwards, one likely dead, and animal services rescued the third baby after a neighbour phoned police.

“The accused continued to attack the raccoons with the sole purpose of causing pain and suffering,” Sweeny said.

Cynthia Post, the head veterinarian at Procyon Wildlife, said the injured baby raccoon was released back into the wild in the same area after three months of care.

“We get a lot of injured animals, but usually from being hit by cars, not because they were beaten with a shovel,” she said. “There was a lot of swelling and pain, but she healed up quickly.”

(From TORONTO STAR Published on Wed Mar 13 2013 page GT4)