Man laughs as hefilmshimself driving at speed into a herd of terrif ied deer
A HORRIFIC video of a ‘mad man’ deliberately mowing down a herd of terrified deer with his car is currently being investigated by gardaí.
The shocking footage was handed over to gardaí by the people working in deer management and conservation in recent weeks.
However, officers are still working to identify the man and the location where the incident was filmed.
Sources said that although it is not yet known where the 32-second video was filmed, the man driving has a distinctive ‘west of Ireland accent’.
In the disturbing footage, the man can be heard laughing as he drives at speed towards the running herd.
He shouts at five terrified animals using foul and abusive
‘It’s disgraceful and downright cruel’
language as they attempt to flee for their lives.
In the footage, which according to a clock on the dashboard was filmed at 3.15am on an unidentified date, the man shouts, ‘I’ll f ****** tip the ***t’ before running straight over one of the deer.
He then laughs hysterically and remarks, ‘He’s dead!’
He continues driving and exclaims ‘this one is dead too’ as he runs over a second deer.
The video, which is very difficult to watch, ends with the man laughing as the surviving deer flee into the trees along the rural road.
A source told the Irish Mail on Sunday that gardaí would ‘love’ to arrest the suspect behind the shocking video but, so far, they have no leads.
The Irish Deer Society called the video ‘shocking’ and ‘cruel’.
A spokesman said the society ‘cannot condone any activity in that video; it’s shocking and disgraceful and downright cruel’.
The society has also passed the video to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) for further investigation.
Deer are a protected species in Ireland and can be hunted with a rifle only by licence.
Poaching, where deer hunters operate with the help of a high-powered lamp and an electronic device imitating the call of a stag during the rut, or mating season, is illegal.
Operation Bambi was set up by gardaí and the NPWS 10 years ago to clamp down on illegal deer hunting in the country. Several people have been arrested and prosecuted under the operation to date. Gardaí have secured convictions in relation to deer killings in the past after officers were alerted to ‘disturbing footage on Facebook’.
In 2018, gardaí announced plans for a wildlife crime training course, equipping specially appointed inspectors with tools to recognise and deal with wildlife crime.
A source told the MoS: ‘We have witnessed some amount of cruelty in our time investigating illegal deer hunting across Ireland.’
However, the source added that the video of deer being deliberately run over is ‘up there with the most grotesque’ ever seen by gardaí and wildlife officers.
They said: ‘It’s hard to even watch that footage. That’s a mad man driving that car. He was enjoying killing those animals in that way and he needs to be caught.’