Tootsie, I totally understand, as an animal rehabilitater, that well-meaning people often have a hard time getting over the cute to consider what happens in the animals entire lifetime. BUT, there was a lot of information about Jet that hadn’t been expressed (most of which has been cleared up by Andrea). I agree that baby animals should be handed over to wildlife carers BUT, as a carer yourself, did it not occur to you that almost all wildlife care groups are under-funded and over-run? What bothers me is that people ASSUME that people like this have no idea what they’re doing and ASSUME they haven’t got in contact with a wildlife group. The blog they put up doesn’t mean they owe anyone any info. It bothers me that people figure other people put every single detail in a blog, so if something isn’t there, you must be right that it was never considered. If you were so concerned about Jet’s welfare, did you email his owners asking questions (or making wild accusations)? Or was bad-mouthing in a forum there is no evidence the owners read enough? My issue is that wildlife carers become bitter which is bad for people and animals.

BTW, thank you Andrea for giving us more info! I’m very glad to hear that not only is Jet loved and well cared for but that there is also a plan in place there ensure that he continues to be safe.

You might want to check out PetNightLights.com. You can turn your favorite pet photo into a night light.

I’m really very tired of people going on about how it’s “bad” to rescue animals. You’re well and truly heartless if you believe that a person should put aside their human desire to help the weak and helpless and KILL innocent animals. It’s a barbaric point of view and you should be ashamed.

If every so often ONE family happens to take in a wee beastie or two, that’s not the end of the world or the forest. And don’t give me that slippery slope business. Most people do not want infant deer or wolf pups or baby birds running around in their houses.

Thank you everyone at Iron Mountain Jewelry. Thank you Jet’s human family- dogs and aunts and uncles and cousins all. You did a beautiful, selfless thing. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It brought a happy tear to my eye.

That should definitely be a new category on CO: “Rescute” !

Thanks for the info, Andrea. Sounds like your sister and BIL are doing their best, and that’s all anyone can ask. That’s so funny Jet was smaller than the cats!

Well, as I said, they *tried*, and the nearby rescue agencies were full up. So in desperation she began looking online. She’s in contact with the wildlife experts and is taking their advice, has the counsel of a vet, and is in a safe place with wild deer that meander through the property.

While I commend anyone for stepping up to save orphaned or injured wildlife, I wish that they would do so properly. Sure, you can research how to feed a deer on-line but a better course of action would have been to turn the fawn over to a wildlife rehabilitation facility or rehabber. They are not impossible or even difficult to find.

Sadly, this deer is now imprinted on humans and domestic animals and likely cannot return to life in the wild. I hope that it is turned over to a sanctuary where it can live with members of its own species and have some semblence of a normal life.

I don’t think that the folks at Iron Mountain Jewelry are malicious folks; they simply got caught in the moment. I just hope that others can learn from their misguided kindness.

I should add that I completely agree with what the wildlife experts are posting; by defending my sis and BIL’s actions I’m not trying to negate their positions, which are good ones.

A lot of folks DO fall out over baby animals, and don’t think about what the animal’s real needs are (or what will happen when it is 100 pounds and in mating season!). If the rescue center option had been there, that’s what they would have done.

As it is, my sister and BIL *have* considered long-term solutions for an animal that has been given life but most likely robbed of its wild experience. Those solutions are not, as Tootsie pointed out, ideal, but I would argue that they are better than nothing.

The “people in question” are my sister and brother in law, peeps. The first thing they did was to contact wildlife rescue — who are overrun with animals. There was no room in the inn. Keeping Jet at home was a poor second to letting him be raised by trained wildlife rescue folks, but it was a million times better than allowing him to die. They stay in constant contact with their local rescue agent as well as supplementing what she says with their own research.

They live on four acres in a protected area where there are already wild deer roaming around. They have a friend with a much larger spread that is fenced–deer fenced–and attended, in case Jet does not make it to the wild but cannot stay with my sister and BIL. The owner has already given enthusiastic approval for Jet to stay there through his normal life span, if necessary.

It is not and never will be as good for Jet as a life in the wild. But they did not do this lightly. Jet has got a fighting chance, and as he may never be able to return to the wild, as firm a guarantee as any thing in the world *can* be that, once having learned not to fear humans, that he will be safe.

And yes, he was smaller than the cats when the first pictures were taken!

Was readn the blog…
“Week 4: Once in awhile we have to holler ‘Drake, spit the deer out…’”