Oakland Police Apologize For Shooting Deer
OAKLAND, Calif. -- In the wake of a firestorm of controversy ignited by the weekend shooting of a deer that wandered into an East Oakland neighborhood by officers, Oakland Police Tuesday night apologized to the public for the incident.
The department said it would rethink the way officers handle wild animals that stray onto city streets.
On Monday when KTVU first reported the shooting of the deer that was captured by an area resident in a shocking home video, Oakland police defended the killing of the deer.
Since that report aired Monday night, police said they have been swamped by irate calls from the public.
“We just want to express our sympathy to the public,” said Oakland Police Department spokesman Jeff Thomason. “When I saw the video, I was outraged and I was upset by what happened. We have to put procedures in place so this never happens again.”
"I understand the importance of life and I'm working towards implementing strategies that will result in humane outcomes in our future contacts with wildlife," Police Chief Anthony Batts said in the prepared statement.
Amateur videographer Anthony Weems captured on tape an Oakland police officer shooting and killing a small male deer Saturday morning in a backyard on 90th Avenue.
The last of the shots was fired a full minute and 15 seconds after the first one.
“You can see where his [the deer’s] leg almost broke,” said Weems, describing the clip as it played on his camera. “It's almost off.”
Lila Travis, who runs a private wildlife rescue organization in Oakland, brought a less than week old baby deer to animal control Tuesday. At first she thought the deer that was shot might be the baby deer’s mother. As KTVU reported, the shot deer was a male.
Travis said she got a call from animal control and fish and game Saturday to rescue the deer before police shot it.
“We were in process of rallying resources to anaesthetize the deer and relocate it,” said Travis. Despite Fish and Game personnel being only 30 minutes away -- according to Warden Roxanne Bowers -- the officers decided against waiting.
“Then we got the word deer had already been shot,” said Travis. “Of course my gut reaction was it was horrible.”
The Fish and Game Warden said in addition to tranquilizers, they carry capture nets and hobbles to tie a deer's legs, so they can transfer it to a less urban area.
On Tuesday, veterinarian and Director of the Oakland Zoo Joel Parrott also offered the zoo's expertise in tranquilizing animals.
“We will help out OPD any time they need our help,” said Parrott.
The next time such a situation comes up, Oakland Police will have plenty of options other than killing an uninjured deer.
