Police say Mathieu Godard and Jeremiah Mathias-Polson broke through a barrier at Parc Omega on the evening of November 10. A security guard who was present at the time noticed that a vehicle had illegally entered the park and notified the police. Moments later he heard gunshots. “Police quickly arrived and located and intercepted a vehicle. Both men were arrested. Police found four animal carcasses inside the vehicle,” Quebec provincial police spokesman Marc Tessier told The Canadian Press. Police also seized firearms from the vehicle. The pair face charges including killing animals kept for a lawful purpose, breaking and entering, unlawful transportation of firearms and unlawful discharge of a firearm during a break and enter. The park, 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Ottawa, is popular with families for the wide range of Canadian animals, including wolves, elk, moose, bison and caribou, that roam the park’s fields and forests. Visitors can drive a 12km route through the facility and feed many of the animals from their vehicles. “We have made every effort necessary to ensure this situation does not happen again, for everyone’s safety and for the safety of our precious animals,” Omega Park spokeswoman Billie-Prisca Giroux said in a statement. Godard, 47, works as a hunting guide and posted images on Facebook from a recent hunting trip in northern Ontario in the days before the alleged incident. Godard was released on bail on Monday and is banned from visiting the park. He is also prohibited from contacting Mathias-Polson and from possessing a weapon. He is also not allowed to consume drugs or alcohol. He did not respond to a request for comment. Police say Mathias-Polson, 21, was on probation when he was arrested Nov. 10 and remains in custody in Hull, Quebec. The two men are due to appear in a Gatineau court on Friday.
