Post by SpyderLady on Jun 30, 2007 10:57:30 GMT -6
Jun 29, 4:37 PM EDT
Deer bludgeoning prompts re-examination of hurt wildlife policy
By WILL YORK
Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- State officials and Nashville police are re-evaluating their wildlife policies after a motorist complained that an officer refused to shoot an injured deer and a highway worker bludgeoned the animal with a shovel 13 times before using a sledgehammer to deal the fatal blow.
The agencies involved will meet in early July to discuss the incident that happened last week along an interstate highway in Nashville, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman B.J. Doughty.
The TDOT maintenance worker who killed the deer is trained in removing dead animals from roads, not killing injured ones, Doughty said.
The motorist who witnessed the ordeal, Carol Kueny of Pigeon Forge, couldn't be reached by telephone by The Associated Press. She told The Tennessean newspaper she was driving on Interstate 440 in Nashville on June 20 when she saw a deer seriously injured by a fall from an overpass.
Kueny called police, who referred the problem to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Neither of Nashville's two armed TWRA officers were on call that day, so the problem fell back to police.
Officer Walter Holloway decided it was unsafe to shoot the flailing deer, police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said.
"He talked to his supervisor about that. Perhaps it was traffic, perhaps it was bystanders, perhaps it was the ricochet effect," she said.
Kueny told the newspaper that Holloway said shooting the deer would have required too much paperwork.
TWRA spokesman Doug Markum said his agency would have offered advice by phone if asked.
"There's no way the agency can respond everywhere," Markum said. "There are nearly a million deer alone in Tennessee. We rely on other enforcement agencies to help us out a lot."
Nashville police have stepped in to kill 62 injured deer since 2005, Mumford said.
Like Nashville, other urban areas are grappling with the problems of a booming deer population.
"They're everywhere," said Nicky Ratliff, executive director for the Humane Society of Carroll County, Md., located at the interface between countryside and suburban Baltimore.
Ratliff worked in 2002 with Maryland law enforcement officials to write a police manual for best dealing with injured animals, which details when and how to kill wildlife.
"I find an awful lot of people don't know what to do," Ratliff said. "They don't want to see the animal suffer. They don't know what to do, and nobody's ever told them how to do it correctly."
Ratliff said problems come from inadequate training and the piles of paperwork needed whenever an officer fires a weapon.
"Shooting an injured deer shouldn't be the same as shooting a bank robber," Ratliff said.
Ratliff said lack of planning - not the TDOT worker who bludgeoned the deer - is to blame for allowing the animal to die inhumanely.
In Tennessee, different jurisdictions have different policies on who is responsible for dealing with injured deer, but most agencies still refer large animals to TWRA without a backup plan when the wildlife agency can't handle the chore.
Dave Head, director of Knox County Animal Control and president of the Animal Control Association of Tennessee, said local law enforcement may have to deal more with wildlife because TWRA is often unavailable.
"(TWRA) is supposed to do wildlife," Head said. "It's as simple as that. It's aggravating at times, and it falls back on us."
Deer bludgeoning prompts re-examination of hurt wildlife policy
By WILL YORK
Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- State officials and Nashville police are re-evaluating their wildlife policies after a motorist complained that an officer refused to shoot an injured deer and a highway worker bludgeoned the animal with a shovel 13 times before using a sledgehammer to deal the fatal blow.
The agencies involved will meet in early July to discuss the incident that happened last week along an interstate highway in Nashville, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman B.J. Doughty.
The TDOT maintenance worker who killed the deer is trained in removing dead animals from roads, not killing injured ones, Doughty said.
The motorist who witnessed the ordeal, Carol Kueny of Pigeon Forge, couldn't be reached by telephone by The Associated Press. She told The Tennessean newspaper she was driving on Interstate 440 in Nashville on June 20 when she saw a deer seriously injured by a fall from an overpass.
Kueny called police, who referred the problem to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Neither of Nashville's two armed TWRA officers were on call that day, so the problem fell back to police.
Officer Walter Holloway decided it was unsafe to shoot the flailing deer, police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said.
"He talked to his supervisor about that. Perhaps it was traffic, perhaps it was bystanders, perhaps it was the ricochet effect," she said.
Kueny told the newspaper that Holloway said shooting the deer would have required too much paperwork.
TWRA spokesman Doug Markum said his agency would have offered advice by phone if asked.
"There's no way the agency can respond everywhere," Markum said. "There are nearly a million deer alone in Tennessee. We rely on other enforcement agencies to help us out a lot."
Nashville police have stepped in to kill 62 injured deer since 2005, Mumford said.
Like Nashville, other urban areas are grappling with the problems of a booming deer population.
"They're everywhere," said Nicky Ratliff, executive director for the Humane Society of Carroll County, Md., located at the interface between countryside and suburban Baltimore.
Ratliff worked in 2002 with Maryland law enforcement officials to write a police manual for best dealing with injured animals, which details when and how to kill wildlife.
"I find an awful lot of people don't know what to do," Ratliff said. "They don't want to see the animal suffer. They don't know what to do, and nobody's ever told them how to do it correctly."
Ratliff said problems come from inadequate training and the piles of paperwork needed whenever an officer fires a weapon.
"Shooting an injured deer shouldn't be the same as shooting a bank robber," Ratliff said.
Ratliff said lack of planning - not the TDOT worker who bludgeoned the deer - is to blame for allowing the animal to die inhumanely.
In Tennessee, different jurisdictions have different policies on who is responsible for dealing with injured deer, but most agencies still refer large animals to TWRA without a backup plan when the wildlife agency can't handle the chore.
Dave Head, director of Knox County Animal Control and president of the Animal Control Association of Tennessee, said local law enforcement may have to deal more with wildlife because TWRA is often unavailable.
"(TWRA) is supposed to do wildlife," Head said. "It's as simple as that. It's aggravating at times, and it falls back on us."
OMG that is too much to comprehend.
