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Legal action for keeping fawn in Indiana

mike rossi
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mike rossi Newbie

mike rossi

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Should an Indiana couple go to jail for saving Bambi?

That's the question surrounding the case of Jeff and Jennifer Counceller, who rescued an injured fawn and nursed it back to health at their Connersville, Ind., home. The couple now faces the possibility of jail time and fines after state officials charged them with a misdemeanor for harboring the animal.

Jeff Counceller, a police officer in Connersville, and his wife were charged with unlawful possession of a deer, a misdemeanor that punished to its fullest extent could put the Councellers in jail for up to 60 days and cost them up to $2,000 in fines.

abc_deer_dm_130129_wmain.jpg(ABC News) The couple rescued the deer more than two years ago after finding it on their neighbor's porch. The Councellers said the deer had sustained injuries, and they wanted to nurse it back to health.

"I could feel all of the open wounds all along her back side and she wouldn't stand up," Jennifer Counceller told ABC News.

They brought the deer home and named her Little Orphan Dani.

The Councellers said an Indiana Conservation Officer stopped by their home and discovered the deer this past summer. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources wanted to euthanize Dani, saying she might be dangerous and a threat to people.

"I was devastated. I spent a year and several months nursing her into adulthood, getting to the point where she was able to go out on her own," Counceller said.

On the day Dani was to be put down, the Councellers said she inexplicably escaped from their backyard. Even though Dani disappeared back into the wild, the Councellers' legal problems didn't go with the fawn.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources said it couldn't comment on pending litigation but that it did discourage people from taking in injured wildlife. This case could go to court next month, and if charges aren't dropped, it will be left for a jury to decide whether the Councellers broke the law.

"No matter what the law is, we did what was right for the animal," Counceller said.

Meanwhile, the story has caused uproar on the Internet. A Facebook support page has more than 6,400 "Likes" in support of the couple. An online petition to drop the charges already has more than 3,800 signatures.

Rick on Change.org wrote, "An act of humanity should not be rewarded with a sentence."

Michelle on Facebook wrote, "They are being punished for having compassion and showing kindness."

The Councellers' case could go to court next month.

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growalot Newbie

growalot

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It doesn't sound like they were trying to hide it and they had a big animal in 2 years....so how did authorities mange not to find out for 2 years?......lol Then they told these ppl to keep the deer and they'll be over to kill it because they had it too long? Sorry that's so stupid it's funny...looks like a PR nightmare to me.

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Doc Experienced

Doc

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There are established procedures and wildlife rehabilitators for handling such situations. These people ignored the law. I have no idea how much they should have come down on these people, but I do understand the necessity for such laws. Every year people are trying to "help" what they think is distressed, cute, wild creatures, whether they really need help or not. So the government agencies make it illegal to turn wildlife into pets. That sounds reasonable to me. Now these people had a case where the deer was injured, and we can only take their word for how bad the injury really was. But there are legal ways of handling those situations too, which apparently they decided to ignore. So, I'm not really going to waste a whole lot of sympathy on them.

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Paula Mentor

Paula

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Yes lets get real, what make them special that they should not get what the law dictates? They kept that wild deer longer than needed for the purpose of a pet.

They should have found a rehab or let it go as soon as it was able to. They taught that wild animal that they also named to trust humans and will more than likely die because of that. I know we will never know that for sure. They thought and acted with their hearts not common sense for a wild animal.

I have to say i would likely try and save it also but would not rob it from its natural habitat and life

Edited by paula
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Doc Experienced

Doc

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So if it were YOU in this pickle you would think that going to JAIL would be fair ! Just saying there are alternatives to jail .In this instance it isnt warrented !

First of all, it would never be ME that was in such a situation.

I'm not going to say that perhaps the penalty does not fit the crime, but if that is what the penalty is, then that is what it is. Also, there was nothing to say that they were going to or had to get jailtime. We have no idea how much discretion will eventually finally be used. However, some of these out-of-scale penalties might very well be reserved for those who get involved in multiple violations, or may serve as additional charges for those that are getting involved in market activities. But the fact is that we don't even know if the government intends to prosecute, and we certainly don't know if they would apply the maximum sentence.

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