A family in Louisiana is upset after state wildlife agents confiscated a blind deer they’d nursed back to health, issuing the family a stiff fine and ultimately killing the deer in state custody.
“This fresh fawn found its way into the Sibley family seven years ago, the baby deer blind and abandoned by its mother in Baton Rouge,” explained WAFB.
The deer, named “Little Buck,” was free to come and go as it pleased on and off the Sibleys’ property, and it eventually grew into a large buck.
All was good for nearly a decade, but last December an anonymous complaint was lodged with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), whose agents visited the property, arguing the Sibleys were in violation of the state’s wildlife rehabilitation program, which does not allow rehabilitating fawns or keeping deer as pets.
Agents shot tranquilizer darts at “Little Buck” while he laid calmly in his bedding, then issued the Sibleys a citation “for possessing a quadruped” and a fine of $1,600.
“I mean my sons in tears, you know?” described Jaci Sibley. “I got him off the couch from watching cartoons right before our family Christmas party to come tell his deer, ‘Bye.’”
Little Buck was euthanized later that day.
Senator Kennedy should opine. LDWF should be forced to eat their kill.