Indiana Couple May Be Imprisoned for Saving a Deer

Jeff and Jennifer Counceller rescued an injured fawn and nursed it back to good health.  The couple rescued the deer more than two years ago after finding it on their neighbor’s porch.  Jennifer told ABC News, “I could feel all of the open wounds all along her back side and she wouldn’t stand up.”  They named her Little Orphan Dani and decided to keep her.

Almost two years later an Indiana Conservation Officer stopped by the family home and asked to see the deer.  He decided the deer had to be euthanized because it could pose a risk to people.  On the day the deer was to be killed, she “inexplicably” escaped her enclosure.  Despite the fact the deer had run off into the woods the couple was fined $2,000 and potentially could be imprisoned for 60 days for unlawful possession of a wild animal.

A petition online is protesting the charges and are seeking for them to be dropped.

I find it pretty ridiculous that this couple, of which the husband is a police officer, may be imprisoned 60 days because they exhibited compassion towards an injured animal.  This couple may go to jail longer than Lindsay Lohan ever has despite her growing criminal trespasses.

I also find it a bit ironic that a conservation officer would opt to kill the deer as opposed to releasing it into the wild.  How exactly is that an act of conservation?

What do you think?

Should the couple be charged and/or imprisoned?

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