The following is a wonderful story printed in the www.countrycritterjournal.com. It shows much about the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Is honesty always the best policy?
By Jan Kellogg

In August of 2002, a relative was informed of two fawns at a home in Windsor , Ohio , where they had been walking around lost for several days without food. This person contacted a “raise and release” program in Windsor , regarding the care of the fawns. They were told there was not enough room for them. When they went back to check on the fawns, one was gone. The other was still there wandering and in danger of being hit by a car or worse. Without any other option they brought this fawn, which I affectionately called Sparky, to me. I took this fawn into my care thinking I was doing the right thing by helping this poor defenseless animal. I did everything in my power to help Sparky survive. I bottle-fed him and had a veterinarian come out and examine him for TB and any other problems. He was given TB shots, Boise Vita E shots and a clean bill of health. I continued to raise him, all the time believing that he was licensed through the state. He was not. During the past year and a half I have taken care of Sparky like he was my child. We had a special area built just for him with his safety in mind. He was able to go in and out of my barn to escape inclimate weather and became a happy, healthy addition to my family.

 Recently during the 2003 gun season Mr. Scott R. Denamen, a Geauga County Wildlife Officer, stopped at my home to inquire about the deer. I told him that Sparky was registered through the state. He then informed me “well, he is not registered through me”. He further informed me that I should contact Angie at the Wildlife Office and she would forward a permit package to me. I contacted Angie as instructed and gave her all of my information. Four days later I received through the mail a permit package. While looking through the package I noticed that they were asking for the previous permit holder information. It was at this time, I realized he did not have a previous permit holder. I did what I thought was the right thing to do and that was to contact Mr. Scott R. Denamen, Geauga County Wildlife Officer. I informed Mr. Denamen that “This is the hardest phone call I have ever had to make”. I didn’t want anyone to take my deer. I explained to him how I had acquired Sparky and that he had all of his shots and had been cared for as I would care for my own child. I also informed Mr. Denamen that the “raise and release” program in Windsor turned him down. I inquired as to how I could reconcile this situation without losing my deer or causing him any physical harm. Then then told me that my honesty had to be worth something and that he would see what he could do to help me. He then told me that he would contact me at a later date to discuss this further. I waited through the Christmas holiday and couldn’t wait any longer. I contacted Mr. Denamen prior to the New Year for a conclusion to this issue.It is at this, I should tell you that I am an avid hunter myself and understand the characteristics of a deer and the different seasonal mood swings of a deer. In saying this, I knew what I was involved in with raising and keeping a deer.

When I contacted Scott, he informed me that he wold have to contact me after muzzleloader season and the New Year had passed. He assured me that everything was going to be ok and that I shouldn’t worry about any of this, that he was going to try to help me. “Calm down” he said. I waited approximately two and a half weeks and received a call from Scott. During this conversation Scott again told me not to worry and that everything was going to be fine and that he had a plan to take care of everything. He then asked me if I would like to be a part of the “raise and release” program. I asked if that would include Sparky and he told me that I didn't need to worry about Sparky. He informed me that he would come to my house on Friday before noon. He arrived at my home before noon; I invited him into my home. While in my home I showed him the shot records for Sparky. Scott didn’t even look at the records; he never unfolded the paper. It was then that Scott informed me me and his supervisor needed to see the deer. I said “fine, let me get some bread so that he will come right over to the fence where you can see him.” When we reached the fence Sparky came to the fence just as I knew he would. I fed him the bread and was petting him. I asked Scott if he wanted to feed him. His response was “I don’t want to feed this deer any bread”. He then turned to his supervisor and said “look at this deer, he is licking my hand, this is going to be rough.” Scott then looked at me as I was feeding Sparky; I asked Scott “what’s wrong?” I knew something was wrong. Scott informed me that they were taking my deer, that I couldn’t keep him. I asked “house can you do this to me, I was honest with you, how are you going to do this?” Scott said they were going to give him an overdose of a tranquilizer. I went numb and almost fell. I pleaded with them to not take him that it was wrong to do this to an innocent animal that had not hurt anyone. Scott and I walked toward my house while his supervisor went to the vehicle to get his equipment. While walking to the house my legs gave out and I collapsed. I asked Scott if I could go call my husband and he said, “I would prefer that you didn’t”. The other Officer proceed to get this equipment from the truck. I asked again if I could call my husband and he agreed, but asked me to wait where I was for two minutes while he spoke with his Supervisor. After they spoke Scott agreed that I could call my husband and inform him of everything that was happening. After I made the call I told Scott that I wanted to go with them because I didn’t want Sparky to go through this alone. We all proceeded to the barn. Sparky was out by the fence waiting for me. They asked me to put Sparky in the barn in a locked stall so that he couldn’t go back out to the pasture. As I was closing the door to his pen he was nuzzling up to me. You should understand that this deer was in second rut at this time and all he wanted was to nuzzle up to me, his natural born enemy. I felt like he knew what was happening. While I was petting him they asked me to leave Sparky so they could proceed. Scott escorted me out of the my own barn.

I feel that you should also be aware that I have an eleven-year-old son. When I walked out of the barn I could hear him in the house screaming and crying.

I heard the dart gun go off and Sparky hit the barn wall. Knowing that Sparky was hurt, I couldn’t hold myself back and I went into the barn. When I reached the pen, they were shooting him again with the tranquilzer gun. The Supervisor called Scott into the pen and I head them talking. Scott then told me that I couldn’t keep Sparky and bury him myself as I was previously told I could. They said he had too many drugs in him and that he would have to be taken to the landfill. The Supervisor came out looking at me with eyes of stone. I told him “why don’t you tell me what is going on, you seem to be over Scott’s head.” That is when he informed me that he was the Supervisor. He informed me that they had to take him because they couldn’t risk that I wouldn’t bury him deep enough and another animal coming in contact with Sparky might be poisoned by the amount of drugs they used. I asked what next. They told me that he would be unconscious for six hours and during that time they would destroy him. I wanted to know the method they were going to use. I was informed that they were going to shoot him and take him to a landfill. The Supervisor then collected his equipment; Scott went in to retrieve Sparky. As he was dragging him out of the barn by his horns, he asked me if I would like to keep his horns. I declined for obvious reasons. Scott continued to drag him out of the barn and across the front yard. The whole time I could hear my son crying. I looked toward the house and saw him watching all of this through his bedroom window. It was at this moment that I realized it wasn’t just my heart that was breaking.

They put Sparky in the back of their truck in a crate and drove away.

I would like to add, is honesty always the best policy? This story sounds more like a “caged hunt” than a Wildlife Officer protecting our environment. Just a thought. What was the sense in this, who’s the winner here?