[Shane361]

Cant really blame the mother for protection her fawn. The woman could have gone accross the street and broke it up. Not sure if the deer would have attacked a human over her fawn unless you got real close to it. Keep the animals locked...dog anyhow. Good luck keeping a cat locked up..lol

From the camera man...


A newborn fawn creates a dangerous situation when mom gets protective. Starts cute, ends scary.

I cut the footage because I ended up filming the dog's owner, whose privacy had to be protected. (How or why I filmed her, I can't say. I was too shocked to think, it's not like I expected any of this to happen.)

The dog eventually left limping—since posting here we have been able to contact the lady. THE DOG IS OKAY, but traumatized.

River, my deer-whispering cat, is fine—we'll see if he learned his lesson.

We did call animal control, there was "nothing they could do" to prevent further trouble.

Yes, my being there filming contributed to the problem, stressing the doe. And yes, I feel bad about it.

I didn't post this so it could go viral and I could receive comments from all over (some of those were great, thank you), I posted it so people in this area can measure the importance of the problem and maybe come up with ways to avoid similar or worse incidents.

Should I have stopped filming and helped the dog? Frankly, this turned ugly so fast I had no time to think, I had no clue what I could do, other than show how swiftly these innocuous looking animals can become dangerous.

Had I intervened, by the time I'd found some broomstick, the dog might have been spared three seconds of this ordeal, but I wouldn't have this footage to share and get people thinking about how urgent it has become to find ways to address the situation. Hearing about the event wouldn't have the same impact, would it?

This is not about an individual deer, we have hundreds roaming around. To the gun lovers out there: I know zip about hunting, yet I'm positive that opening fire two blocks from an elementary school would have been frowned upon. When I advocate for government intervention, I suggest the job would require professionals or even amateurs who would avoid killing animals indiscriminately. And I don't even know that the solution would be to slaughter these animals. (In Churchill, Manitoba, they relocate the polar bears who come to town. Granted, those are endangered.)

So, no, I'm not sorry for filming and posting this scene. This is not about spreading some sick, voyeuristic fun.

My children live here. Kids walk to school every day. I'd feel a lot better if I knew none of them would ever think to pet a fawn. I may not have helped this poor dog, I sure believe I might still get to help others.