Michigan DNR Orders Rehabilitated Fawn Put Down, Animal Welfare Director Says
Critics call the policy arbitrary and unfair to wildlife.
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DETROIT, Mich - The director of the Detroit Animal Welfare Group says the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is demanding a rehabilitated fawn be put down, while also continuing a years-long legal fight over a coyote in her care.
The fawn in question was recently transfered to another orginization. The DNR is demanding that group put the fawn down.
Kelley LaBonty, director of DAWG, said her group rescued a fawn named Peanut earlier this year after it was found unable to stand or lift its head. “She was laying on her side, and she couldn’t lift her neck. She couldn’t even move. She was so weak,” LaBonty said. “The outcome for an animal like that is not great.”
LaBonty said her team gave Peanut IV fluids, treated her for low blood sugar and began physical therapy. “Every day we came in there was a little bit more improvement,” she said. “Then she could lift her head. And then next thing she was laying sternal, how she should be. And we’re like, yes, Peanut.”
Despite months of progress, LaBonty said Peanut was still too small and unsteady to be released into the wild by the state’s October 1 deadline. “We didn’t think she could outrun a predator, with her vision, and she still had some slight neurologic issues,” she said.
DAWG found placement for the fawn at an educational facility, but the DNR denied the transfer, citing a rule requiring extensions to be requested by Sept. 15. “So you have to put down the fawn,” LaBonty said she was told. “The fawn is scheduled to be put down this week.”
LaBonty called the deadline arbitrary. “There’s no reason to lose their life based on an arbitrary date that makes absolutely no sense,” she said. “We need to look at these laws. We need to make changes that are appropriate for the animals and not have arbitrary dates to kill animals.”
LaBonty also said her group has faced years of scrutiny from the DNR following a 2018 case involving a coyote. The animal had been left at DAWG’s facility with a broken leg and was clearly raised in captivity. “It was wagging its tail, wanting to play. So it was clearly raised in captivity,” LaBonty said.
The coyote was kept under the group’s USDA exhibit license, but the DNR accused DAWG of keeping it illegally. LaBonty said the case has dragged through multiple courts despite rulings in her favor. “It’s just absolutely insane, the amount of time and money they have put into this one coyote over seven years, that’s perfectly happy, that has a beautiful enclosure,” she said. “Leave the coyote alone.”
Nonsense. Ridiculous.