Deer distress that’s avoidable
EVERY so often you come across something in the countryside that is upsetting, a lot of the time it’s just how the country works.
Watching something being killed for food by a predator is a mix of horror and excitement, this is nature in the raw.
Then you come across things that are horrible and avoidable, if we humans took just a little time and care.
I was walking the dog along the local river and a group of concerned walkers had stopped.
There was a roe deer snared in a fence. Its leg had become entangled in the fence and was badly broken.
It was about a year old, a most beautiful, redcoated buck, but it was in so much pain and distress.
There was no way I could free it without causing any more pain and then it wouldn’t have been able to walk.
We called a number of emergency numbers and the fire brigade quickly arrived along with a police firearms expert.
It was freed and examined but the poor thing had no chance of survival and had to be shot.
The fence wasn’t high and this deer would have had no problem clearing it normally but I get the feeling that a dog may have been chasing it and caused it to panic.
It was fairly obvious. I have seen this a number of times close to our village, dogs chasing wild animals.
I don’t think the owners are allowing their pets to do this on purpose, or am I being too generous?
Most dog lovers don’t want their dogs to be killers.
A couple of days later, we watched as a sheep was carried to a trailer by the local farmer after it had injured itself on a fence while running from a “playful” four-monthold dog.
The dog owner was facing a bill of between £100 and £200 from the farmer.
She was lucky, if the farmer had seen the dog chasing the sheep he would have shot it there and then.
Going back to the deer, we live in a region where there are lots of roe deer in our woodland and on the moors, so we are all bound to come into contact with them if we get out regularly.
I think every time I see a deer is special, we are so fortunate to live side by side with these beautiful and agile mammals.
At this time of year some of the deer are just a few months old so they are not confident around other beasts.
They certainly don’t know if a dog is being playful or intent on savaging it.
So it’s down to the owners to have proper control over their pets.
It’s a sad fact that many owners have little control over their dogs, you can see that when you take your own mutt for a walk.
The amount of apologies I get when a dog takes a snap at my dog or jumps up at me with muddy paws is amazing.
My response is “Should be on a lead until it’s trained.”
“But it has never done this before.”
“Hmmm!”
Yes, we have amazing wildlife and that wildlife lives and dies a natural death in the countryside.
Your lovely dog is born to chase, whether it’s for fun or to kill.
If you let it run free in wild areas without proper training it will only be a matter of time before it does something that will cause you and other people upset.
I spent days reminded of a distressed deer, lying upside down with its leg snapped in two places.
It was in pain for a couple of hours and was crying out every so often, because it had no idea what was happening to it.
Then its short life was ended.
All that could have been averted if a dog owner had been a little bit more careful.