State official responds to controversy over euthanizing baby deer

The lines between humans, nature, government oversight, and common sense are being called into question after the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife euthanized baby deer and elk at a rehabilitation center.

According to a state official, the story is more complex than one would assume.

“The situation that we found ourselves in here is we have a rehab facility that — with a certain group of animals — had allowed them to become overly habituated, or tame,” said Eric Gardner, assistant director with Fish and Wildlife. “It is unlawful for those animals to be released into the wild. They provide a potential threat to humans, disease concerns. So we needed to come in and take action to remove the animals.”

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Removing the animals, in this case, meant the department euthanized them, Gardner explained to KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show. Three fawns and an elk were put down.

It started when an intern at For Heaven’s Sake Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation in Rochester, Wash. tipped off the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Department. The intern alleged that the wild animals — deer and elk — were not being trained to live in the wild. Rather, they were quite friendly with humans and acted more like pets, KING 5 reports.

Wildlife department steps in

When Fish and Wildlife officials visited the facility, they concluded that was the case. Facility officials have said that they keep a distance from the animals. They place tarps along fences to block any interaction between the deer and people. But when wildlife officials entered the pen, the deer and elk walked right up to them. Gardner said it was clear they wanted food and attention.

“At this point in a rehab program we would expect deer to have been weened from bottle feeding,” Gardner said. “The close contact occurs much earlier during that bottle feeding period. By now they should have been remove from human interface. They should be feeding from bottle racks, with barriers between animals and humans, and they shouldn’t be seeing a human as a friendly place to run to for being pet, scratched or fed.”

Gardner also argues that habituated deer can become dangerous after being released into the wild; he cites one recent incident in Washington when a deer gored joggers. They also aren’t prepared to survive in the wild. Normally, those animals should want to keep a distance, he says.

“Our goal is to keep wildlife wild … our goal is to have rehabbers take care of wildlife so they can be released into the wild and be an active part of that wild population,” he said.

For Heaven’s Sake’s operators have refuted Fish and Wildlife’s version of the story. They say the deer even ran from officials when they came to tranquilize them; indicating they were not accustomed to people. They are reportedly closing down in the wake of the incident.

The rehab facility did not respond to requests for an interview with the Dori Monson Show.