Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Honourable senators, usually, when we do tributes here, it is to recognize the achievements of our fellow citizens. However, today, I want to express my amused admiration for a remarkably determined herd of cows.

This is a story about some 20 cows in the region of Saint‑Sévère, Quebec. They escaped their enclosure last summer and, to quote a great article written by journalist Sébastien Houle, they have been “getting back in touch with their wild side” ever since. Witnesses say that they can jump fences like deer. Since their escape four months ago, the herd has even grown because some cows calved.

The Village of Saint-Sévère’s general manager, Marie-Andrée Cadorette, took the situation in hand. She contacted MAPAQ, Quebec’s Department of agriculture, fisheries and food, but it said that there was nothing it could do and suggested that she call the provincial Department of environment, climate change, wildlife and parks. That department said that it could not do anything because cows are not wild animals and suggested that she call the humane society.

The humane society said that it could not do anything because cows are not pets and suggested that she contact MAPAQ, so Ms. Cadorette called MAPAQ again. This time, the department suggested that the municipality destroy the runaways.

Ms. Cadorette responded, “The Municipality is me in a dress and high heels . . . I’m not going to go running after cows!” Fair enough.

Ms. Cadorette then contacted the Sûreté du Québec, the police, to ask them to kill the cows, but they refused because, in their view, this was not an emergency situation.

Finally, Ms. Cadorette got in touch with some cowboys through the Saint-Tite western festival, which is a wonderful local tradition. For the first time, someone agreed to help.

On October 30, the night before Halloween, nine cowboys arrived in Saint-Sévère: eight on horseback and one armed with a drone. The cowboys located the cows and almost managed to round them up, but the cows escaped through a corn field at the last minute. They are still on the run, hiding in the woods by day and grazing by night.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the dogged determination of Marie-Andrée Cadorette and wish her the best of luck. Don’t give up. I would also like to commend the cowboys who stepped up when every government department and police force in Quebec said there was nothing they could do. There is a political lesson in there somewhere.

Finally, I would like to confess my unbridled admiration for these cows that have found freedom and are still out there, frolicking about. While we overcomplicate things, these cows are learning to jump fences.