Police forced to shoot downtown deer
Mary Riley/This Week
Sergeant Paul Richards, left, and Constable Jim Hayes prepare to enter the H&R Block office after a deer jumped through the window.
Jun 20, 2006
Mary Riley - More from this author
To the shock of bystanders, Kawartha Lakes Police officers were forced to shoot a young, white-tailed deer in Lindsay's downtown core after the animal jumped through a window of the H&R Block office.
The incident began around 11:30 a.m. Friday morning when officers got a call reporting the deer was running north of the downtown.
Several officers responded as the deer bounded along streets and through yards, even running through the police service parking lot before finally making its way to Kent Street West.
Without warning, as startled lunch-hour passersby watched, the animal leaped through a window of the office, shattering the glass and disappearing into the building.
Police quickly stopped onlookers from getting closer; several officers moved people back to make sure no one was in the way if the terrified animal jumped back out to the street.
Due to the off-season, the office was unoccupied, but as the crowd of onlookers swelled, two officers armed with a shotgun entered the building after tracking down someone with keys.
A short time later, the deer could be seen through the office windows as it raced back and forth, looking for a way out, before once again disappearing into the rear of the office.
The animal's panic visibly escalated as more people crowded into the area to watch the drama, including traffic on Kent Street slowing to look.
Several minutes later, one shot rang out from inside and the animal burst through another window.
The deer staggered across the sidewalk before collapsing in the street, where it visibly struggled until a second officer drew his gun and shot it in the head.
As officers removed the carcass, several onlookers, visibly upset, shouted insults at the officers, calling them names and saying other methods could have been used, such as tranquilizers.
"We have veterinarians," yelled one man.
"There's tranquilizer guns for things like this," shouted another.
Cheryl Langdon, the H&R Block employee who brought police the keys to enter the building, said she was with the officers at the back door while the deer was inside.
"They called me to bring the keys, but I didn't catch what they said on the phone, so I didn't know it was an animal; only that the window had been smashed and the police needed to get inside," she said. "But, when they opened the back door, there was the deer, standing in our lunchroom.
"There was blood everywhere. It looked like a crime scene."
Ms Langdon said she "loves animals" but insisted the officers had no choice but to shoot the deer.
"I was back there with them before they went inside," she said. "They spent several minutes discussing what to do. None of them wanted to have to shoot the deer. They had already called the Ministry (of Natural Resources) asking for a tranquilizer gun or even some kind of a net, but they didn't get any help.
"That deer was really badly injured before it was shot."
Ms Langdon said that while nothing in the office was damaged by the frightened animal, "there was an awful lot of blood; it was unbelievable."
"If you saw the inside of that office, you'd realize the police had to do something. That was one badly injured animal, and it was terrified," she said. "The police were really worried it might jump out the window again, so they shot it. But, it jumped out the window anyway."
Ms Langdon said while she doesn't hunt, her husband does, and she knows a thing or two about wildlife.
"It was amazing that a deer would be running around downtown in Lindsay," she said. "But, it was panicked and badly injured before the police shot it, and someone could have been killed. It jumped through two plate glass windows.
"The police didn't want to shoot it, and they did a lot of talking about what to do, first. But, they were worried about people's safety. They had no choice and they did their job."
