A married couple in River View Circle were outraged last week after a delayed response from Alberta Fish and Wildlife left an injured deer suffering on and around their property for several hours on Jan. 10.
Joylyn and Lloyd Leugner were given a rude awakening around 3:30 a.m. after hearing a series of loud noises behind their home.
“My husband heard a loud screeching and crying noise, and he didn’t know what it was,” Joylyn said. “He went out to the back deck and he looked out and saw, what he thought was a coyote or wolf, attacking this young deer.”
Upon seeing the deer being attacked, Lloyd scared off the coyote. Shortly after, he immediately called Cochrane RCMP.
“A Mountie was here within 10 minutes,” Lloyd said. “He said he would look after it, and he said would call Fish and Wildlife people and get them here.
“Of course, they never showed up at all and I called them twice.”
After waiting until noon, Joylyn decided to go to the office of Alberta Fish and Wildlife, but the door was locked.
“So, from there, I went back to the RCMP and I told them that nothing is being done and this poor little thing is still suffering," she said.
“Now it’s after 2 p.m. and it’s lying there, but it’s still alive. It’s just inhumane and we were upset.”
At the time of the interview, the Leugners had not heard back from Alberta Fish and Wildlife, leaving Lloyd angered about the situation.
“I’m absolutely furious that this poor young [and] crippled animal has not been put out of its misery,” he said.
At 2:30 p.m., officers from Alberta Fish and Wildlife arrived on scene to deal with the situation, and decided they would tranquilize the deer and remove it from the premises.
Although the situation was resolved the same day as they called, Joylyn remained upset about the slow response time and lack of communication from Fish and Wildlife.
“I’m was just so angry that the door was locked, nobody would respond,” Joylyn said.
Lloyd wants to know why it took Alberta Fish and Wildlife so long to act, pointing out the time from his call to the officers' arrival was more than 10 hours.
“I would simply tell them they should be ashamed with the way they permitted this young, suffering animal to remain in pain, all afternoon,” Lloyd said.
Reached for comment last week, Luis Carlos Flores Aguilar, the communications advisor for the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services Communications and Public Engagement, provided additional information about the event.
“Officers returned the call to obtain further details of the situation but weren’t successful at contacting the caller,” Aguilar stated. “At approximately 3 p.m. the same day, a second call was received from a new complainant regarding the deer.”
Aguilar added that Fish and Wildlife officers were sent to respond to the call, where they assessed the situation and ultimately made their decision to tranquilize the animal.
“The deer had serious injuries that made its survival unlikely due to natural predation,” he said. “Officers made the difficult decision to chemically immobilize the animal and removed it from the area to be euthanized in a humane way in a safe environment.”
Regarding the complaints about the closed doors at the Cochrane office Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services in Cochrane, Aguilar outlined that it is open for appointments only. Appointments can be made by calling 403-932-2388 during regular business hours.
Contact information for all Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services offices can be found online at alberta.ca/fish-wildlife-area-office-contacts.aspx. Aguilar said to contact these offices for non-urgent enforcement or problem wildlife matters.
For instances of urgent wildlife matters, Aguilar advises the public to contact the Report A Poacher phone line toll free at 1-800-642-3800. Calls can be made anytime, seven days a week.
