Controversial B.C. deer cull halted by Parks Canada [Video]

Federal officials have spared the lives of the remaining invasive deer on a small British Columbia island, pausing the final phase of their plan to eradicate the animals in the eleventh hour.

Parks Canada says it granted the reprieve after residents of Sidney Island came forward with concerns that fencing the agency had installed to herd the deer before the cull was ineffective.

Animal protection groups say the fencing was inhumane, causing the deaths of at least two deer that became tangled in the makeshift barriers last month.

The Animal Alliance of Canada and the Animal Protection Party of Canada say the cancellation of the fallow deer cull is “encouraging” for those opposed to the eradication plan and those exposed to the suffering of the deer on the island north of Victoria.

“If the islanders had not exposed to the public the deer caught in the netting, I doubt we …