NEW JERSEY -- Standoff may be too strong a word, but for an hour an enormous gray pickup truck blocked access to Russ and Brenda Oakes' property, which until 12:30 p.m. today was home to Daisy, Dilly and Dandy, three illegal pet deer.
In a letter to Gov. Chris Christie, Mr. Oakes explained, "My wife has been raising and releasing deer for the past 15 years. These fawns were brought to her by police officers, animal control officers and others... mostly all cases where the mothers were killed by cars and the babies were still by their sides." He wrote, "Brenda has a very big heart, too big at times."
He asked that she be granted a wildlife rehab permit because of her extensive experience helping deer and her volunteer work with veterinarians.
Their 7-acre home site, which is surrounded by the township's Horseshoe Bend Park, is home to horses, goats, parrots, cats, pot-bellied pigs and dogs, almost all of which, Mrs. Oakes says, were wished onto her by someone who couldn't or wouldn't take care of them. There is no law against adopting such a menagerie, but there is a law against adopting wild species.
Of course there is a law against adopting wild species! You can pay the state wildlife officials a permit and kill the deer but god forbid you keep one as a pet.
They say that the "kill rate" is only about 50% -- meaning, the other 50% escape only to die slowly of the non-lethal wounds inflicted on it by hunters. Starvation, dehydration, drowning in their own blood, open wounds get infected and poison their blood, they fall down from weakness and injuries and then are attacked by coyotes, wolves and or dogs. All of these things are legal b/c well hey you're the mighty hunter and you can't help that you couldn't find the poor animal you shot at.... but this woman is considered a criminal.
She had released previous deer she'd raised back into the wild, but when
Horseshoe Bend Park was established and deer-hunting was allowed there, she couldn't bear to let her three most-recently raised deer become targets. They are now 3 and 4 years old and live in a fenced area in her yard, although they are sometimes allowed in the house.
At 9:30 Monday, with the authorities due at 10 to take her three deer, Mrs. Oakes was in the deer yard petting them and feeding them grain. "I realize it's a law," she said, "but I think it's not black-and-white. This is in a gray area; there should be some way to get around it. It's not as though I'm keeping deer in the city, or the deer are not in excellent shape. They are well cared for, and they are only going to be taken to another fenced-in area. Why not leave them here?"
While she was visiting the deer near her house, out near the driveway entrance her neighbor Dave Moscal, the owner of the long Ford F350 pickup, was practicing the act he would present for the authorities. It went something like this:
I was taking my dog to the dog park and drove too far, and when I tried to back out, my truck got stuck here. And it broke down. And I lost the key. My dog? It done runned off. I called Triple-A about the truck and they're trying to confirm that I'm a member. But meanwhile, Ross, here, has been real nice about having me stuck here.
At about 10:20 the state Division of Fish & Wildlife people arrived in several vehicles, including a pickup truck carrying three wooden deer-transport boxes.
Capt. Frank Panico with another armed conservation officer handled negotiations, first with Moscal and then with Mr. Oakes. Despite Moscal's civil disobedience, the officers smiled at his implausible playacting and didn't press the issue. Oakes said his wife needed more time to resign herself to the loss of her pets.
While Larry Herrighty, assistant director of operations for Fish & Wildlife, and two wildlife experts stood by, the officers discussed the situation with Mr. Oakes, who offered his objections to the law that would deprive his wife of her beloved pets without improving the animals' living situation at all.
Without arguing, Panico expressed the belief that rules are necessary to prevent chaos, and they should be followed.
The officers' patience was rewarded after an hour when Mr. Oakes got his wife's unhappy consent to let the Fish & Wildlife people do their jobs. Moscal suddenly found his ignition key and removed his truck.
When the Fish & Wildlife entourage arrived at the house, Mrs. Oakes left the premises. Syringes with sedatives were affixed to poles.
"Start with Dandy," said Mr. Oakes, "she's protective of the other two."
After a few minutes of pursuit mingled with coaxing, all three deer were jabbed. It was remarked that a tranquilizer gun could've been used, but the syringe doesn't damage muscles.
Unconscious, the deer were gently carried out of their pen on slings one by one, put into the wooden boxes, loaded onto the truck, and driven away.
Mr. Oakes said that he wasn't told definitely where the deer will be taken, but that they will live in a fenced area in a New Jersey park. He also said that his wife had not been issued a summons for breaking the law.
Mr. Oakes had sought relief from a variety of non-elected and elected officials, including the governor, but he doesn't think Christie ever saw his letter.
Family friend Morgan Taylor wrote to Kingwood Township Mayor Phil Lubitz asking him to intercede on behalf of the Oakes family.
In the letter, Taylor recalled that after Dandy's mother had been hit by a car, Mrs. Oakes had bottle-fed the fawn and stayed up at night holding her to keep her warm "even at times letting the deer into her own bed so she could get some sleep."
Tayor said, "The love she has for her animals is the same love that a mother has for her children, and that's how it's always been, especially with her deer."
(
NJ.com - November 25, 2014)
