Minnedosa crow shooting program extended

The Town of Minnedosa council voted to continue its crow and magpie control efforts at its regular council meeting on Mar. 24.

Approved volunteers will be able to shoot crows and magpies within town limits in Minnedosa for another year using 12-gauge or smaller shotguns. The program will be in effect through to next spring.

The town has an abundance of magpies and crows, Minnedosa CAO Danniele Carriere told the Sun. The control program was introduced in 2007 by council, and was later modified to include magpies, which are also considered nuisance animals and community health hazards in the area.

Shotgun shooting for approved volunteers is permitted from dawn to dusk, except on Saturday when shooting must take place between 10 a.m. and dusk; and Sunday, when it must take place between 1 p.m. and dusk.

Five volunteers have been approved. RCMP have been notified of the program, and volunteers have been given a letter that authorizes them as a participant in the animal control effort. They are required to carry the letter and present it when asked by law enforcement.

The town’s control program is part of ongoing efforts in the area to promote ecological balance and reduce the problems caused by overpopulation of corvids.

The total number of crows and magpies slain is recorded by each volunteer and reported to the town annually. Numbers are not yet available for the total cull last year, however fewer than 30 crows and magpies were killed in previous years, Carriere said.

The dead crows and magpies are gathered, placed in plastic bags and disposed of by being placed in residential garbage for pick up.

Carriere said the abundance of crows and magpies in Minnedosa may also be remedied by a new garbage collection procedure that started last year. The Town of Minnedosa’s garbage collection previously included garbage bags set out on the street, but in July of 2025 the municipality provided containers with lids for garbage storage on the curb.

“I am hopeful that the new solid waste collection method will decrease the number of crows and magpies within town limits,” Carriere said.

Crows and magpies are not protected under federal or provincial law and are not regularly controlled as part of the town’s animal control program, the Town of Minnedosa policy reads.

Other attempts to control crows and magpies in the area previously prompted some push back, including from the Winnipeg Humane Society and an organization called Animal Justice.

The humane society in 2025 asked its followers to make their voices heard over a crow and magpie shoot event hosted through the Minnedosa Game and Fish Association, which is unrelated to the annual crow control program in Minnedosa. The Winnipeg Humane Society urged followers to email the minister of natural resources and Indigenous affairs and ask for legislation to be passed that would ban wildlife killing contests.

The shoot event last year assigned points to three different targets around Minnedosa, crows, magpies and gophers, and provided a cash payout to the teams that scored the highest in the single day. Teams had to buy-in to participate.

Animal Justice complained about the event as well, writing that it is “calling on the chief veterinary office to investigate the planned crow and magpie killing contest in Minnedosa, which will also award ‘points’ for killing gophers, and intervene to prevent it from going ahead.”

The organization argued that crows and close relatives should benefit from legal protection, and asserted that the event was “encouraging careless shooting” that may cause animals needless suffering.

Responding to concerns, the game and fish association posted online, saying that the control of corvids in the area is important for biological balance, among other reasons. They said that proper wildlife stewardship sometimes includes decreasing the population of an overpopulated animal to help others.

“Waterfowl alone have a 90% predatory destruction on their nest, and they need a 15% success rate to maintain the numbers that we currently have. Corvids are one of the main predators on the nesting birds. We host this event to try and increase the hatch rate of the waterfowl, along with the successful nesting rates of songbirds, upland birds, and any other nesting birds. In no way are we wanting to eliminate a species, but just to keep the population in check and to try and give the upper hand to the other nesting birds that we all enjoy.”

Gophers can eat crops and create holes in the ground that lead livestock to breaking legs, and frequently to being euthanized, the association added.

“We hope this post clears up some of the controversy that is going on about the event,” it wrote. “Out of all the negative comments on this event, we only had one person actually reach out and ask us for the reasoning.”

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com