WICHITA, Kan. _ Angered over a December event where a Kansas game warden shot a tame deer, in a family's yard, Texan James McGinn has asked the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission to change its regulations.
The 2-year-old mule deer doe, named Faline by Kim Mcgaughey and her family, was shot in rural Grant County. Game wardens said the family had violated a state law that forbids keeping wild animals as pets.
In past interviews Kansas wildlife officials say the law is to keep people from capturing wild animals to keep them for pets. That's often fatal to the animal. It's also to protect the public from disease animals may be carrying. Deer can also carry hundreds of ticks, which can spread things like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Officials also said Kansans have been killed when pet deer became violent in the past.
McGinn, 55, and a Kansas native most of his life with family in south-central Kansas, said Wildlife and Parks needs to do a better job of defining violations of that regulation. He pointed to Texas regulations, which he said is fair to people and wildlife.
"The laws (of Texas and Kansas) both say it's illegal to keep a pet deer," said McGinn, of Gatesville, Texas. "But in Texas that means you can not have that animal confined. (McGaughey's deer) wasn't confined. You can see on the video it could go about anywhere it wanted, when it wanted."
The Mcgaughey family and Wildlife and Parks officials would not comment about the shooting.
In a past interview Mcgaughey said the deer followed her home from a neighbor's place about two years earlier. She has photos of the deer in her house, wearing Christmas decorations and others of it with family members.
Occasionally the deer would be gone for several days. An absence in early December caused Mcgaughey to post on Facebook asking if anyone had seen the deer. A few days later it wandered back into her yard. The Facebook post led to a complaint from the public and game wardens got involved.
On Dec. 19 Mcgaughey was issued a citation where she worked in Ulysses for "unlawful possession of wildlife without a permit." Within an hour three game wardens arrived at her rural property and talked with her husband and daughter.
Mcgaughey's daughter, Taryn Mcgaughey, videoed game wardens following the deer as it went across the yard, jumped some bushes and went into the driveway, then behind some trees. Audio recorded the sound of the shot that killed the deer. In past interviews Mark Rankin, Wildlife and Parks law enforcement assistant director, said officers felt that was the best way to handle the situation as per human safety.
McGinn said the fact that the deer could move so freely showed it wasn't being confined, and shouldn't have been shot.
"The laws in Kansas and Texas both say you can't keep a pet deer," McGinn said in an interview, "but in Texas if that deer can move about on its own, and you're not confining it, it's not illegal. In Kansas, if they think it's a pet and they just come and shoot it."
McGinn spoke to the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission during its meeting at Cheney State Park recently.
McGinn's family has a tame deer named Lola that spends time in their yard in Texas. He said the deer was found three years ago as a small fawn beside the road near their house, weak and bleeding. The fawn was driven the short distance to McGinn's home, where the family nursed it back to health. It's been free to come and go, since. He has numerous photos and video of the deer in the yard, interacting with family members.
Giving the fawn a ride in the car was illegal, said Ellis Powell, of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Allowing it to roam around the family's yard, feeding and petting it, is not.
"If it's confined, that would be considered possession and that would be illegal," said Powell, assistant director of wildlife enforcement. "As long as the animal has freedom it's fine. There's no law against putting a bowl of corn out on your back porch and feeding the deer. It's legal if you like to pet those deer on the head a little. We certainly advise against it, (for safety reasons) but that deer's not in anyone's possession unless it's confined. We want to see an animal that can get its own water and food, survive on its own."
Wade Farrar, of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, said Oklahoma's regulations are similar to those in Texas.
Powell said Texas wildlife officials have had to remove deer from properties where they were totally confined. Usually an agency biologist goes to the property and makes the determination. Often biologist shoots the animal with a tranquilizer and removes it. Some are released into the wild. Some have to be destroyed.
Kansas game wardens don't have such equipment, or training.
Recently Texas officers confiscated a small fawn that made national news.
"This woman came walking up to the Alamo, with this little fawn on a leash," Powell said. "She couldn't believe she was doing anything wrong. She had it confined on the leash. If it had been free to come and go there's not much we could have done about it."
The woman, who had found the deer beside the road, was issued a citation for illegally having the young deer. The fawn was taken to a state rehabilitation center.
