HUMANE SOCIETY OUTRAGED BY SHOOTING OF DOE

The Humane Society of Utah today expressed outrage over yesterday’s incident in which a young doe, trapped in a fence while trying to get into the Legacy Nature Preserve in North Salt Lake, was summarily shot by a police officer in spite of the pleas of civilian bystanders to find a less violent means of resolving the problem.

At approximately 11 AM on April 26, passersby noticed the small deer struggling between the posts of a chainlink fence as she tried to get into the grounds of the wildlife refuge. Her hindquarters couldn’t follow her head and shoulders, and at least three vehicles had stopped to try to help the animal. At that point someone called the North Salt Lake Police Department, thinking that officials would have the proper training and equipment to release the deer from her predicament. Instead, the responding officer, Sgt. Craig Beckstrand, announced that he was going to shoot the deer dead and threatened the distressed onlookers with arrest if they remained to see the actual killing.

HSU Executive Director Gene Baierschmidt, speaking on behalf of his organization, said, "The only word I can think of to describe what happened there is ‘appalling.’ The deer could have been saved; she was a small animal and it wouldn’t have been that difficult to pry the bars apart enough to let her slip through. Sgt. Beckstrand’s callous attitude toward the civilians who wanted to see the animal helped instead of destroyed leaves me wondering how he deals with other cases he investigates." The Humane society is not planning direct action against the city of North Salt Lake at this point, but Mr. Baierschmidt is left with "a sick feeling" by the episode. "There were a lot of better alternatives that could have been taken," he said.