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Penticton  

Deer left to rot by mailbox

A dead deer has been carefully wrapped in clear plastic, duct-taped and left to rot near mailboxes in the Anarchist mountain area, leaving residents dumbfounded.

Sandra Wouters lives on Bobcat Court, and discovered the deer's body while collecting the mail at the end of her cul-de-sac on Tuesday.

She immediately reported the upsetting find to RCMP, who told her to contact Conservation Officers. She contacted Conservation, got a call back but has received no physical response.

It is now Friday afternoon, three days later, and no one has attended the scene. Wouters says the smell has become unbearable and she cannot believe nothing has been done.

“I came home today and it is still there. It is rotting, it reeks, the whole cul-de-sac does, you can't even get out of your vehicle to get your mail,” says Wouters. “It is weird, it is disturbing and really weird.”

She says she doesn’t understand why someone would wrap it the way they did and then dump it by a mailbox.

“It is a deer that has been either killed by accident or on purpose and somebody has purposely taped up the poor thing,” says Wouters. “It is a really messed up and disturbing thing.”

She is now getting frustrated by the conservation office.

“I phoned again and they are telling me it is not their job and that highways has to come deal with it,” says an aggravated Wouters. “I think the conservation officers should go out there and try to get some fingerprints off the tape or something, do their job."

The problem, says South Okanagan Conservation Officer Sgt. Jim L. Beck, is that his office is understaffed and overwhelmed with calls.

“Right now we are inundated with bear complaints and other enforcement issues. We have to prioritize the events that we are able to attend. We have to pick the more serious ones, or the ones where we have a higher likelihood of determining who is responsible for it and try to solve it.”

He says hunters will sometimes wrap and dump carcasses in poor places, but it is near impossible, unless witnessed, to determine who dropped the carcass.

Beck says conservation will not come get the deer, as it is not their responsibility, but residents can call the road maintenance department or remove it themselves.

“If we had enough staff to keep on top of every call that came in we would probably be able to assist. But, generally speaking, we only respond to violations where there is some evidence to support that we will find out who is responsible and have it resolved,” adds Beck.

As it stands, Wouters and her neighbours may have to remove the dead animal themselves. 



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