- May 17, 2024
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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says its officers killed a deer by cutting its throat in a Palm Coast yard, then shooting it in the chest, for reasons of "safety and humane treatment."
Law enforcement officers killed the deer after a community member called 911 on Oct. 5 saying the deer — which had been raised by a local family as a pet and was known in the neighborhood as "Baboo" — attacked and injured a man in his yard on Cool Water Court and tried to attack the caller. But the way officers killed it caused outrage among neighbors.
"It’s so inhumane. Why not just shoot it?" said Palm Coast resident Delfina Tomaini. "I don’t think a pocket knife is justifiable to slit a throat in front of the neighbors that love this guy. They had to watch it bleed out. Are you kidding me?"
One resident, Jennifer Wagner, wrote on the Observer's Facebook page, "Everyone knew who he was and everyone loved him. ... It’s absolutely disgusting to think that our law enforcement handles our wildlife this way. I hope they do an investigation; someone needs to answer why this was handled the way it was."
An FWC spokeswoman emailed an official FWC statement to the Observer in response to a series of questions the Observer had asked about the case, including why officers didn't shoot the deer earlier in the encounter.
The statement says that the deer was killed by a gunshot wound "once the animal was laying down in a position where it became safe" to use a firearm.
The wording suggests that the deer was killed promptly once it was on the ground, but Flagler County Sheriff's Office body camera footage shows that an FWC officer and FCSO deputy roped the deer to a telephone pole, pulled it to the ground with a catch pole and cut its throat approximately four and a half minutes after the deputy's body camera starts recording. The deer was shot 20 minutes into the video, after another FWC officer arrived and suggested shooting it, then did so himself. The deer was on the ground in approximately the same position in which it was shot between minutes eight and 20. (View the footage, which is graphic, HERE.)
The agency's statement does not add further details that would explain the reason for that time gap or answer the Observer's other questions about the incident, including whether using a knife to kill a deer is within the agency's guidelines for euthanizing animals, whether the FWC is investigating the case's handling and whether the FWC has records of previous complaints about the deer.
But an FWC incident report sheds more details on the attack itself and how officers approached the task of restraining and killing the deer.
The attack victim, a 71-year-old man, told an FWC officer that he'd been pulling weeds in his garden when something knocked him down. He looked back and saw the buck. As he tried to get up, it kept coming at him with its antlers, causing superficial lacerations to his hands, arms and legs, according to an FWC officer's report. One of the injuries, to the back of the man's left hand, required a dressing when he went to an urgent care center for treatment.
The FCSO's agricultural deputy, Steve Williams, arrived on scene first with a catch pole. FWC Senior Officer Kurt Harris arrived next. The FWC had jurisdiction over the case; Williams was there to assist.
Harris was asking Williams if he'd found the deer yet when the deer, a four-point buck, walked out from behind a house, eating potted plants, according to Harris' report.
The deer ambled right up to the men and stood facing them, relaxed, while Williams looped the catch pole around its head and Harris tried to pull a lasso around its hind legs.
The law enforcement officers had instructions not to shoot the deer in the head because FWC wanted to test its brain for rabies and chronic wasting disease at the FWC's lab in Gainesville. They also couldn't shoot the deer while it was standing, with homes behind it and the deer struggling against the ropes.
"Neither Williams nor I were able to euthanize the deer safely with a firearm while trying to keep it on the ground," Harris stated in the incident report. "The deer was still very active, our proximity was very close to one another, and we were using both of our hands to control both the catch pole and lasso. I made sure no bystanders were in the area and was able to kneel beside the deer and cut the deer’s carotid artery. Officer Lemaster arrived at the scene at this time. Williams and I were able to stretch the deer out while Lemaster was able to euthanize the deer with one shot from his firearm."
But by the time Lemaster arrived around 17 minutes into the video, the deer had been on the ground for about nine minutes, the video shows. Lemaster immediately asked about shooting the deer to hasten its death.
"We're not good with putting a round in the head?" Lemaster asked as he walked up. "... Are they good with us shooting him right here?"
"It's damn near dead," another law enforcement officer said. The officers who had arrived first explained that FWC wanted to test the animal's brain, so a head shot wouldn't work.
"I'm thinking we just put one [a round] behind the shoulder," Lemaster said. "Because it's going to bleed for a while, that's the problem."
Lemaster directed other officers to position their vehicles between the deer and the homes across the street, then shot the deer. It jumped once, then collapsed and died a few minutes later.
The American Veterinary Medical Association's guidelines for euthanizing animals advise against killing an animal by cutting its throat and letting it bleed to death unless the animal has been rendered unconscious beforehand.
Those guidelines say the following about exsanguination ("bleeding out" an animal): "Because anxiety is associated with extreme hypovolemia, exsanguination must not be used as a sole means of euthanasia. Animals may be exsanguinated to obtain blood products, but only when they are sedated, stunned, or anesthetized."
The FWC also sustained criticism for its euthanasia methods earlier this year when its officers killed dozens of snakes — including, mistakenly, a pregnant pet boa constrictor estimated to be worth $100,000 — at a snake breeder's warehouse in South Florida.
