Injured doe put down after it wandered into West El Paso neighborhood
An injured doe had to be euthanized after it wandered into a West El Paso neighborhood with four other deer. Residents near the intersection of Belvidere and Dulce Tierra woke up to the sight of five deer walking through their streets shortly after 5 Monday morning.
El Paso Animal Services crews arrived with a veterinarian from the Texas Department of Health in an effort to lead the deer back to the mountain. Three of the deer left when city crews arrived but an injured doe and a buck who appeared to be guarding her stayed in the front yard of a home.
Dr. Ken Waldrop, the state veterinarian who assisted Animal Services, said the buck stayed with the doe because it’s mating season for the deer. Waldrop said the doe’s front right leg was broken in two places and described the wounds as “traumatic.” The doe was probably hit by a car, he said.
After shooting her with a tranquilizing dart, the veterinarian examined the doe’s wounds and determined the best option was to euthanize her.
Pat Castillo, a resident in the neighborhood, said the doe jumped her 5 foot rock fence, despite the animal’s injuries. “We all hoped she could be saved. We even called our veterinarian just to say ‘what do you think? Can she be saved?’ And he told us ‘there’s no way it’s very complicated it’s a wild animal.”
Waldrop tranquilized the doe while the animal was in Castillo’s home and then carried her out minutes later and assessed her wounds, then euthanized her at the scene, according to Animal Services officials. “We’re sad that it had to end this way but we’re glad to see one of God’s creatures right at our doorstep and if you’re driving around and you see a deer, be very careful. Got to try not to hit those beautiful creatures,” said Castillo.
The buck was also tranquilzed and later released to the Franklin Mountains State Park where he can’t be hunted, according to an Animal Services official.
