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Indiana couple vows to fight fawn rescue charges
beneteau
Member Posts: 8,552 ✭✭✭
The deer's story went viral online this week after a sympathetic Indianapolis man, John Waudby, set up a Facebook page to rally support for the Councellers.
If you support the rescue actions---vote "Like"
Drop Charges Against Connersville Police Officer
CONNERSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana couple who nursed a wounded fawn back to health have vowed to fight misdemeanor charges for keeping the deer at their farm for two years, and their burgeoning legion of online supporters suggests that popular opinion is firmly on their side.
Jeff Counceller, a police officer in the eastern Indiana city of Connersville, said he found the deer in 2010 curled up on a front porch with maggot-infested puncture wounds. He and his wife, Jennifer, kept the deer in an enclosure on their 17-acre farm and named it Dani.
Earlier this month, prosecutors - at the behest of the state Department of Natural Resources - charged the Councellers with illegal possession of a white-tailed deer, a misdemeanor that carries up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Jeff Counceller told The Indianapolis Star that he and his wife didn't know it was illegal to keep the deer, and that returning it to the wild when they were told to do so "would have been a death sentence."
Complete story
If you support the rescue actions---vote "Like"
Drop Charges Against Connersville Police Officer
CONNERSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana couple who nursed a wounded fawn back to health have vowed to fight misdemeanor charges for keeping the deer at their farm for two years, and their burgeoning legion of online supporters suggests that popular opinion is firmly on their side.
Jeff Counceller, a police officer in the eastern Indiana city of Connersville, said he found the deer in 2010 curled up on a front porch with maggot-infested puncture wounds. He and his wife, Jennifer, kept the deer in an enclosure on their 17-acre farm and named it Dani.
Earlier this month, prosecutors - at the behest of the state Department of Natural Resources - charged the Councellers with illegal possession of a white-tailed deer, a misdemeanor that carries up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Jeff Counceller told The Indianapolis Star that he and his wife didn't know it was illegal to keep the deer, and that returning it to the wild when they were told to do so "would have been a death sentence."
Complete story
Comments
It is human nature to care for a wounded person or animal, that is one of the traits that makes us human.
Ye shall not interfere with the Kings deer in the Kings forest or ye shall be fined and jailed! Another case of gov't overstepping their bounds...it is getting worse and worse every day in this country.
It is human nature to care for a wounded person or animal, that is one of the traits that makes us human.
Are U implying that the Gov. officials that be are less than human?
If so,I FULLY AGREE!!
I know that's a lofty expectation.
Just another example of an LEO thinking he is outside the law.
Ye shall not interfere with the Kings deer in the Kings forest or ye shall be fined and jailed! Another case of gov't overstepping their bounds...it is getting worse and worse every day in this country.
It is human nature to care for a wounded person or animal, that is one of the traits that makes us human.
Around here, you can be fined for the simple act of feeding a deer. Matter of fact, if the FWP pushes it, they can also pull your hunting and fishing licenses for whatever length of time they see fit.
The law is the law. No matter if you disagree with it or not it should be followed. Don't like it then get it changed.
Just another example of an LEO thinking he is outside the law.
Did you forget the green font or are you serious,Barney?
at times laws and their enforcement are simply bewildering.
I hope public support will help get charges dropped.
Capt. Jack Sparrow.
The law is the law. No matter if you disagree with it or not it should be followed. Don't like it then get it changed.
Just another example of an LEO thinking he is outside the law.
My point is...don't the police and prosecutors have anything more important to worry about other than a deer being adopted? Many german soldiers used that same line as they were marching the Jews to their deaths..."the law is the law", we must obey our masters and be good little sheep.
No evidence.
It escaped.
And was very tender and tasty.
If you raise it as a pet, you will get caught.
Everyone knows it's against the law to raise a wild animal, play stupid , but they knew.[:o)]
Ye shall not interfere with the Kings deer in the Kings forest or ye shall be fined and jailed! Another case of gov't overstepping their bounds...it is getting worse and worse every day in this country.
It is human nature to care for a wounded person or animal, that is one of the traits that makes us human.
That's right! And no laws should mess with that.
Mother deer leave the little fawn in the forest while they go off to feed. Then, after some hours, they return and nurse the fawn.
It often happens that a well meaning person finds the fawn, and "rescues" it. Had they just left the baby deer alone, it would have thrived in the forest with its mother.
In the big picture, the law against humans keeping fawns is a good one.
In this particular case, they should give the couple a medal for saving the poor fawn's life.
ps I don't believe the cop that he was unaware that what he was doing was illegal.
There was a wild turkey, that couldn't read the law. He moved in on my nephew's farm, kicked the azzes of both dogs, and simply installed himself as one of the legitimate occupants, by right of conquest. He used to accompany my nephew everywhere, including during deer hunting, when he would co-occupy the blind. Then when my nephew shot a deer, the turkey would watch over his shoulder while he dressed the deer. I sometimes wonder what kind of charges the Department of Natural Resources would have pressed against the turkey, if they had caught him.
Animals are smarter than most bureaucrats.
My family raised two over the years to adulthood, and they lived on just fine when they went on their way...we saw them for several years afterwards out in the pastures doing all that does do. Bonnie was the first, and Ginger was the second.
I was going to say...... How hard is it for a Deer to live on it's own when it's food grows wild almost everywhere.
http://www.wthr.com/story/20711538/connersville-police-officer-and-his-wife-face-charges-for-saving-a-deer
But, the fawn is still a wild animal.
Say you rescue a 20 pound spotted fawn. You saw his mother killed by a car.
You raise the little deer for a year. You put a collar on it and have a pet name for it. The problem is, although it comes when you call its name, it is still a wild animal.
After 2 years you have an 8 point buck on your hands. In rutting season, this deer is liable to charge you and ram his horns into you and kill you. This has happened before.
So, with tears in your eyes, you drive your pet buck 20 miles away and turn him loose in the national forest.
A month later, in deer season, your pet walks up to the first human he sees, expecting a handout of five pounds of corn.
That human is wearing blaze orange and is carrying a .308, and he shoots your pet dead at a range of 20 feet.
It is just not going to turn out well when you try to make a pet of a wild animal.
A licensed wildlife rehabilitator says the Councellers didn't do Dani any favors and neither will the state by dropping the charges.
"This is a big problem here in Indiana," said Kristen Heitman with Providence Wildlife.
"We need to make a statement that people can't do this," she added, saying since the Counceller's story came out, other people who've rescued wild animals have called her and asked to turn them in to Providence Wildlife.
Heitman has rehabilitated wild animals for more than 10 years.
"You need to do what's best for the animal, not for your own heart," Heitman said. "That means getting that animal to the right place.
Heitman says, by law, the Councellers had 24 hours to turn Dani over to a licensed rehabilitator.
"Rehabilitators are trained to have minimal contact with creatures. We feed them. We change their bedding, but we have minimal contact," explained Heitman. "We don't want them getting used to humans."
The Councellers said they tried to find a deer farm for Dani after they found her and nursed her back to health, but every one they called said they were full.
When DNR discovered the Councellers still had Dani, they decided the deer had had too much human contact and needed to be put down because she was a threat.
"Any wild animal can become tame, but there's still a wildness in them," explained Heitman. "You never know when its going to come out and that's when you can get hurt.
"We don't want to imprint animals. We don't want to get them used to humans," Heitman said.
If you read that link, DNR had found out about the rescued fawn. DNR had decided to euthanize the deer. On the very day that DNR was going to take the deer back to kill it, "somehow" the deer was released from its pen, and went back into the woods so that DNR was unable to find it.
The cop and his wife denied that he and his wife freed the deer.
"DNR had decided to euthanize the deer."
So that's the proper way to save a deer.
"Heitman has rehabilitated wild animals for more than 10 years."
Does that mean he's been killing them for more than 10 years?