Disquieting Disequilibrium

"I don't think the deer needed to be euthanized ... I just think it's a tragedy.
"I just don't understand this mentality that once an animal is habituated [to humans], it will always be habituated."
Liz White, Animal Alliance of Canada

John Deer, as he was known, has been killed by conservation officers. Photo: Carmela Di Flos/YouTube

Note to wild animals; be on your best behaviour around humankind. Not too docile, certainly not to evince any interest in becoming more intimately familiar with humans; danger lurks there. Nor are you to become the remotest bit on the aggressive side, if you're feeling somewhat aggrieved at the interloping humans horning in (sorry about that) on your territory, that you've always believed to be your natural environment.

"The deer was hand-raised and very habituated to humans, which made it a high risk for unpredictable behaviour" stated the B.C. Ministry of Environment: "The deer's behaviour was escalating due to the arrival of the breeding season". There's a solution to that concern.

The deer famous for its playfulness with pre-schoolers and the manner in which it charmed vacationers by nuzzling them, was "humanely euthanized", near Vernon, B.C.

Tranquilizing and relocating the deer would have been traumatic; removing a wild animal from its familiar surroundings makes it vulnerable to being spurned by other animals; they are social creatures. It could have been left where it was in the comfort of its familiar surroundings and a dog, companion to humans, taught to frighten it back into the forest by continually barking at it.

Relocating it to a wildlife preserve? "Integrating an animal with this behaviour into a captive herd would be an extreme challenge and may not be possible", cautioned environmental officials. Uncomfortable, shunted from its familiar surroundings...why that sounds just the way that humans themselves behave.

Might it be even remotely possible that animals other than humans have similar needs? Apparently not. Though we share nature's bounty between us all, including our natural surroundings, humans have this flaw where most of us are not quite certain there is any need to humanely share with animals other than ourselves.

In Quebec this week another similar situation occurred in the Gatineau Hills area beloved as a nature preserve and a natural-surroundings-getaway for Ottawans and Gatineau residents alike, an area brimming with animals many are delighted to see, administered by the National Capital Commission as a parkland forest heritage area for all Canadians. Human Canadians.

Roads and animals don't get along very well together. Vehicles that drive those roads often destroy the animals that abound nearby. And one motorist last week found to her horror that she had struck a fawn. Two nearby residents came along with the intention of doing their best to preserve the small animal's life. When into the scene drove an officer with the MRC des Collines de L'Outauoais police force.

This photo of MRC cop killing fawn on Mon, Sept. 9 was taken by Greg Searle.Photograph by: Greg Searle, Reader Photo

The intention to help the injured young deer was taken out of the hands of the resident volunteers. 

 

When Const. Philippe Roy arrived his intention was clear; to dispatch the animal. He had arrived at the professional opinion as a police officer, not as a veterinarian, that the fawn had internal injuries apart from its broken leg, so there would be no use at all transferring it as nearby residents Samantha Biron and her husband Greg Searle wanted to do, to a wildlife refuge facility.

 

Ms. Biron argued with the officer, attempting to persuade him that the fawn could be saved; she had managed to contact a wildlife refuge centre which said it would take the small animal, assess its injuries, and then decide whether it should be treated or euthanized. That choice was taken out of her hands by the determination of Const. Roy to perform his duty as he felt was demanded of him. 

 

The Constable in fact had ordered Ms. Biron to step aside as she was trying to protect the fawn from being shot. "He said, 'I can shoot the fawn', explaining he would be following police protocol for injured wildlife. I said, 'You can't, it's a baby and it's just a broken leg." Finally in the ongoing disagreement the police officer ordered Ms. Biron to "stand down" or be arrested. 

 

After the fawn was shot and the couple prepared to leave the scene, the police officer noticed that Mr. Searle's licence plate on his vehicle was a day overdue on its renewal. He impounded the truck.