Rescue injured baby deer, go to jail

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Jeff Counceller, a police officer in Connersville, and his wife face charges for unlawful possession of a deer, which could result in 60 days in jail and fines up to $2,000. The couple rescued the injured deer, named Little Orphan Dani, over two years ago after finding it abandoned. An Indiana Conservation Officer discovered the deer during a visit and recommended euthanasia, citing potential danger to the public. The case has sparked debate about the appropriateness of pursuing legal action against individuals who attempt to rescue injured wildlife, with some arguing that the focus should be on more serious crimes. Critics question the rationale behind prosecuting the Councellers, suggesting that good intentions should not be criminalized, while others emphasize the need for professional wildlife care rather than amateur intervention. The discussion reflects broader concerns about wildlife management and the legal implications of rescuing animals.
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This had better not go to court.

Jeff Counceller, a police officer in Connersville, and his wife were charged with unlawful possession of a deer, a misdemeanor that punished to its fullest extent could put the Councellers in jail for up to 60 days and cost them up to $2,000 in fines.

The couple rescued the deer more than two years ago after finding it on their neighbor's porch. The Councellers said the deer had sustained injuries, and they wanted to nurse it back to health.

"I could feel all of the open wounds all along her back side and she wouldn't stand up," Jennifer Counceller told ABC News.

They brought the deer home and named her Little Orphan Dani.

The Councellers said an Indiana Conservation Officer stopped by their home and discovered the deer this past summer. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources wanted to euthanize Dani, saying she might be dangerous and a threat to people.
Continued...

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blog...me-saving-130022946--abc-news-topstories.html
 
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I agree it's a tragic waste of time. Let's focus on the real bad guys!
 
Never violate the prime directive!
 
WT...
 
So it's OK for a police officer to break the law for two years, just because he feels like it?

But the whole story doesn't make any sense from a UK point of view - the right thing to do over here would be rescue the deer from any immediate danger, and hand it over to the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) to be looked after professionally, not by a well-meaning amateur.
 
It's an old story here.
Bambi vs. the Bureaucrats

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/09/18/bambi-vs-the-bureaucrats.html

This isn't the first time a kind-hearted, misguided Oregonian has tried to heed the call of the wild. Last year, an 11-year-old girl in the coastal city of Waldport suffered a bruised skull and jaw after the deer her family had adopted after it was hit by a car decided to turn on the child, pinning her against a fence. And in 2005, state officials discovered a black bear in the home of a Roseburg man. The bear had been living there for years, it turns out, eating people food, even sleeping in a bed made for humans. A dozen times in the past year and a half, Hargrave says, state officials have had to remove wild animals from people's homes.
 
They're prosecuting these nice people for saving a wounded deer? Funny here I was thinking good deeds were above the law...silly me.
 
I just think it's bizarre that somebody would rescue a wounded deer instead of just putting it out of its misery. Where I'm from, deer are looked upon like giant, tasty rats.
 
I guess I kind of assumed that shooting injured wildlife - deer especially - would be part of police officer training.

Still, not something worthy of an arrest: just fine him.
 
  • #10
nsaspook said:
It's an old story here.


http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/09/18/bambi-vs-the-bureaucrats.html
People are dumb. They think that just because deer look cute in animated Disney movies, they aren't just like any other wild animal. YouTube has a bunch of videos of people giggling while filming Fido playing with a deer -- until the deer has enough and stomps Fido to death.
 
  • #11
You would think this would be a waste of police time what with sex-offenders and murderers running around.
 
  • #12
russ_watters said:
YouTube has a bunch of videos of people giggling while filming Fido playing with a deer -- until the deer has enough and stomps Fido to death.

It's weird that you know that YouTube has "a bunch" of these videos.
 
  • #13
FreeMitya said:
You would think this would be a waste of police time what with sex-offenders and murderers running around.

Wow, I didn't know that the Department of Natural Resources went after sex-offenders. :rolleyes:
 
  • #14
FlexGunship said:
It's weird that you know that YouTube has "a bunch" of these videos.
Why? Have you never been on YouTube? Once you look at one video of something, a bunch more similar ones pop up in the side pane next to the video.
 
  • #15
Jack21222 said:
Wow, I didn't know that the Department of Natural Resources went after sex-offenders. :rolleyes:

Guess I should pay more attention next time. This is shaping up to be a weird day as I've had to save face on more than one occasion, when I'm usually pretty good at fact-gathering and "knowing my stuff" before I talk about something. Still, my main point that it is a waste of time holds true, in my opinion.
 
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  • #16
It's ridiculous to spend tax payer money on pursuing these people through court just because they ticked off the DNR guy when the deer managed to escape the day it was scheduled to die. That's what it all comes down to. If they had let the guy kill the little deer, it would have been over.

Kudos to these people.
 
  • #17
The Maine Wildlife Service (called Fish and Game at the time) was well-aware of the activities of an elderly couple in the Greenville area. They had fed over-wintering deer outside, then on their porch, and then in their house, where the deer could warm up while eating their lunch. No charges, no fines. One of my closest friends was the chief of the Maine Warden Service, and while he was not a fan of feeding herds of deer in cold weather, he could not have had the heart to deprive these old folks of something that pleased them so.
 

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