Certain actions are supposed to have certain consequences ... right? The law of cause and effect, or whatever? Except sometimes, in this life, A + B = #*$. Just ask Jeff and Jennifer Counceller of Indiana. Over two years ago, the police officer and his wife found an injured fawn on their neighbor's porch. The baby deer was in bad shape, as Jennifer remembers it: "I could feel all of the open wounds all along her back side and she wouldn't stand up." The Councellers felt terrible for the poor abandoned creature, so they took her home, determined to nurse her back to health. They named her Little Orphan Dani and spent over a year helping her to heal and grow, planning to release her into the wild once she was strong enough. Little Dani was thriving.
The end! What a happy story! BUT NO. That's when things went seriously sideways ...
Because that's when an Indiana Conservation Officer showed up and discovered Dani. "Hey, that's not a dog!" said the officer. (I don't know what he said, actually.) But I DO know that the officer reported the Councellers to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and THEY decided it would be best to euthanize Dani because she was potentially "dangerous and a threat to people."
NO, DON'T KILL BAMBI!!!
Luckily (also, suspiciously), Dani "inexplicably escaped" from the Councellers' backyard on the very day she was scheduled to be put down. Phew! Run, Bambi, run!!!
But the Councellers are still in huge trouble: They've been charged with unlawful possession of a deer -- a misdemeanor that could land them in jail for up to 60 days and/or cost them up to $2,000 in fines. Come on, really?! I get that deer are illegal to own as pets, but as far as illegal pets go, at least a deer is a more benign choice than, say, a chimpanzee or a bear. Why not go pick on some people with more obviously dangerous and threatening pets and leave this couple alone? Or, better yet, give them a gold star for being kind and unselfish and compassionate.
Do you think this couple deserves to go to jail?
Image via Candie_N/Flickr
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Comments 16
This country and it's "justice and law enforcement" system have officially become a joke. SMDH
but casey anthony and oj are free
That being said, I'm glad the deer "disappeared" and they certainly don't deserve jail time. The deer seemed well taken care of, and they had no bad intentions. There are plenty of wild animals being kept as pets that aren't hbeing taken of, the law enforcement should go take care of those, and let these kind people off the hook.
When I was little we found a baby deer that was all alone. We lived on a vineyard and didn't have any neighbors so we kept it. Deers CAN be dangerous, especially if they're male. Ours wasn't though, we gave him the creative name of Baby Deer.
If they kept the deer for a year, there is no way it could survive on its own after that. Their actions sentenced the deer to death in the wild - how is that kind or compassionate?
We would rescue deer who's mama got hit by a car. Bottle feed it until it was weaned and we would put an orange collar on it so it wouldn't get shot by one of us. The last one was killed by a hunter about 4 years after we found it. So yes, deer will survive on thier own after being raised by people.
People are so mean... hopefully they continue to help animals, because enough people don't.