Kansas Doe Shot By Wardens...

[BigBore44]

I believe, like the Kansas DOW did, that putting the animal down was the only option. First according to the linked article, no one wanted the deer outta fear it may have been infected with CWD. A deer farm/zoo is not going to take the risk of saving one animal by putting the entire herd at risk. If one animal in the herd comes down with CWD, that entire herd is put down. There s no cure and there is no test to determine of an animal has the disease unless that animal is killed and tissue samples of the brain and lymph nodes are taken. This is why most states now do not permit interstate deer commerce and deer farms/shooting preserves will only buy deer from stock proven to be CWD free. The animal clearly could not be returned to the wild and the law states that private individuals cannot have wild animals as pets. Again, the family doomed the deer to death. They made a wild animal a pet and then bragged to the world about it. They made the deer dependent upon humans by intervening when it was a fawn and not allowing it to learn to survive by itself. They may as well have pulled the trigger themselves, but forced the Kansas DOW to do it and then damned them for doing it. Was the way the animal put down a way to discourage others from doing this again? I hope so, since far too many folks can't take a subtle hint.

Buck,
You cannot be serious. You hope the DOW shot the deer 5 times with a handgun, in front of the family, to teach the family and others a lesson about making deer pets? Do you need more coffee and take a minute to think that one through?

 

[CraigC]

If they didn't want to see it, they should have gone in the house. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that NO method used would've produced a different result when the animal in question is considered a pet. They were going to pitch a fit no matter what.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Bureaucratic idiocy at it's finest.

Aarond

.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Anytime an LEO uses his firearm he must file a complete report. That applies to all sworn officers. It seems these reports would be released?

 

[BigBore44]

Anytime an LEO uses his firearm he must file a complete report. That applies to all sworn officers. It seems these reports would be released?

That's my understanding. But they better hope their report matches the video and sworn statements of the family, even if they have to admit they made made a mistake or used poor judgement. Because it's illegal for them to file a false report just like it is for the rest of us. With everyone having cameras and smartphones, the days of "fudging" reports are quickly coming to an end.

 

[Dog Soldier]

So very true good points. That whole story continues to sound very strange? Most officials would have used used a "Dart".

 

[buck460XVR]

Buck,
You cannot be serious. You hope the DOW shot the deer 5 times with a handgun, in front of the family, to teach the family and others a lesson about making deer pets? Do you need more coffee and take a minute to think that one through?

Folks on the internet love to put words in other folk's mouths so to speak. While I doubt very much the DOW had intentions to have to shoot the deer five time to put it down, they brought the wrong tool for the job and did what they had to do to finish the job. My point was, that coddling to those that break the law and make pets of wild animals is going to do nothing to prevent it in the future. The minute those that bring wild animals into their home to play with their kids realize that they are only dooming the animal, hopefully their stupidity will stop. Otherwise odds are, animals will continue to die needlessly. Craig sums it up well with his follow up post.......

If they didn't want to see it, they should have gone in the house. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that NO method used would've produced a different result when the animal in question is considered a pet. They were going to pitch a fit no matter what.

Why would you keep your kid outside to see their so called "pet" put down? Would have it been a prettier sight if the wardens would have hit the doe in the head with the first shot and splattered her brain matter all over the front yard? Would the kids have thought it was cool to see the deer's eyeballs blown outta their sockets? Anyone here who has ever finished a deer off at close range with a head shot knows it can be gruesome, even tho it is humane. Would that have made for a better video? It was not going to be pretty no matter what. Odds are the woman screaming and the kids bawling scared the deer so a better first shot was harder to get. Another example of them thinking they are helping contributing to the animals doom. A responsible mom would have gone inside with her kids and let the officers do what they had to do. The blame for this whole ordeal does lies on the woman and those who contributed to the taming of the deer and the making of this video. Without any of it, the deer would have been much better off, regardless.

 

[CraigC]

Yeah, I don't think that braining it with one shot would've softened the blow. 99 times out of 100, the eyeballs are gonna blow out, at least partially.

The blame for this whole ordeal does lies on the woman and those who contributed to the taming of the deer and the making of this video. Without any of it, the deer would have been much better off, regardless.

Precisely!

 

[barnbwt]

"Your boys may get me in a rush, but not before I turn your head into a canoe"

His head asplode.

 

[barnbwt]

Yes the family went wrong by making the deer into a pet. Yes, the DOW had to do something. No, putting it down was not the only option, and NO WAY was the manner and attitude appropriate, legal or not. I think the real reason they put the animals down in many of these situations is to discourage people from doing this again. On that measure, it was probably pretty effective, but at the cost of negative publicity and anger, which they apparently don't care very much about.

My family found a whitetail doe dead from a vehicle strike (probably) and her spotted fawn nestled up next to her. We fed her fawn on goat formula, but as soon as she was big enough, she was put outside. We made sure to domesticate it as little as possible. She hung around a while and played with the family dog, but eventually, she stopped coming around.

Probably because she tried to play with the wrong dog somewhere else, thinking it was also friendly. Deer are meant to be cautious around canines for a reason, and interactions like you describe are the precise reason they can't be released back into the wild after sustained human interaction or domestication. The wilds are a tough place, and humans are a bad teacher for dealing with them.

I still agree with the officials' course of action (killing the deer), suspect the reason for using such a strong hand is because we are not seeing the whole story, believe a softer tone of engagement was warranted if the reports are accurate, and understand that sometimes the state does have to get tough in order to get stubborn/resistant people to obey the law. Some or all of these may apply here, again depending on how accurate the reports of this sad, stupid story are.

TCB