The dogs — a red chow chow, a black Rottweiler mix and a Labrador mix — dug under a new fence that had been installed about a year ago and attacked and chased the deer, said Janet Tarrance, Noccalula Falls Park and Campground supervisor.
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| Only five deer remain of the 29 that were living in the deer pen after dogs dug under the fence and attacked the deer |
Tarrance said 13 deer were dead when park employees found them early that morning. Eleven others died later of stress-related issues, including lung problems. She said the deer weren't used to being run like they were.
One of the surviving five deer is not doing well and might not survive, she said. Eight of the deer killed had been born recently.
“It's really, really sad,” Tarrance said.
Tarrance said the dogs still were in the deer pen when the incident was discovered, and it was estimated they had been there for about six hours.
The Rottweiler mix was killed when it charged a park worker, she said, and the Labrador mix was captured by Animal Control. The chow escaped and is at large.
Tarrance said park officials plan to replace some of the deer, hopefully having eight to 10 in the pen by Christmas.
Depending on where they're purchased, she said, baby deer cost about $2,500 and older deer cost from $1,500 to $1,800.
Tarrance said some of the deer had been at the park for a number of years and had been bottle fed by park employees.
The deer were “like pets” to park employees, she said, who gave them names and petted and fed them every day.
“It's just been really hard on everyone up here,” Tarrance said, “because it's a big attraction and especially with Christmas coming up. Then when you're attached to them, it's like anybody else's dog or cat up here.”
Parks and Recreation Director Kerry Payne said the city is working on a police or incident report. It hopes to hold Dynamic Security Company, which handles security for the city, partially responsible for the incident and have it pay some of the cost of replacing the deer. He said he'd also like to see the dogs' owners held responsible.
Tarrance said “one or two” of the dogs had collars and officials are searching for the owners.
Payne said the security guard who was on duty has been fired.
“We feel that had security been doing the rounds the way they should have been, that it wouldn't have happened or it wouldn't have been as severe as the situation was,” Tarrance said.
(Gadsen Times - Oct 3, 2011)
