A Dramatic Deer Rescue in Missoula Happened, But Why? [Opinion]
First off I want to say how much I appreciate the Missoula Fire Department and the Missoula Police Department. I am in awe of what they do for our community on a daily basis. I can't say it enough how much I respect them and what they do. I heard about the story just recently of the dramatic rescue of a mother deer and her fawn from the Clark Fork River. I applaud what they did. Then I started to ask myself, "Why did they do what they did?"
I know this is not going to be a popular opinion, but we have such a big urban deer population in Missoula and it continues to grow every year. So I asked myself, why did they rescue the deer only to release them back into town? I understand that the Missoula Fire Department and Missoula Police Department can use these opportunities to practice their river rescue scenarios, and that is important and I support that. If it was someone's pet, I would understand that scenario too. But I just didn't understand rescuing the deer.
Deer are all over my part of town. I have seen multiple deer killed on the side of the road, in town. There have been situations where a wounded deer was across my street bedded down and the police were called and they had to put the deer down. I have stopped counting the number of times that I have almost hit a deer with my car on my way to work, and all of this is in town.
I never want to see an animal suffer. As I read the story it occurred to me that they rescued the deer and the fawn only to release them back into an urban area where they will be chased by dogs, chased out of lawns as they eat the vegetation, and possibly be hit by a car.
What do you think? Did they release them to a worse fate?
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