LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (WAFB) – A man was criminally charged and fined $1,650 after Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents discovered a deer on their property that he and his family had nursed back to health after its mother abandoned the animal seven years ago.
The man’s wife, Jaci Sibley, said a woman in Baton Rouge found the deer in her garden. The woman asked them to take the deer since they have a large piece of property in Livingston Parish. The Sibleys said over the years, the deer named “Little Buck” became part of the family. Even though the deer was blind, it was free to leave but never did.
“We did something that was good and humane, and I wouldn’t do anything different even now,” Jaci Sibley said.
Last December, agents received an anonymous tip that a deer was living on the property. That’s when agents seized the animal and euthanized it, according to State Representative Lauren Ventrella.
“My son’s in tears,” Sibley said. “I got him off the couch watching cartoons right before our family Christmas party to come tell his deer goodbye. They came and darted him. He was laying in his bedding area for 20 minutes. They shot him with a dart and then had to shoot him again.”
Sibley said her husband received a criminal charge for possessing a quadruped (a four-legged animal) along with a $1,650 fine…