Dog dies of injuries after deer attack in Victoria

CTV News

4 days ago

Jasper's family says they had to put him down after he was attacked by a deer in Victoria on Tuesday. (Source: Brenda Neveu)
A Victoria woman is sharing a warning about aggressive deer in the capital region after her dog was attacked and later died of his injuries.
Brenda Neveu said she was sitting on her front steps on Tuesday when her dog Jasper's ribs were broken.
'He wandered a few steps away from me and just as he did that, there was a flash. And it was a deer that just attacked him immediately,' she said. 'It just mowed him right over – trampled him.'
Neveu said she scared the female deer away, but it came back while she was tending to Jasper. A young man heard her screaming and came to help, chasing the deer away for a second time, she said.
'He chased it all the way down … to the end of the street,' she said. 'When he came back, the deer followed him back.'
B.C.'s Environment Ministry said deer can become aggressive during fawning season, which begins in May and lasts a few weeks. Neveu said she didn't see any babies in her yard, which is in the Rockland neighbourhood.
'I had to take my pup to the hospital,' she said. 'He didn't chase deer, he didn't bark at deer. Never had. And we had to make the choice to put him down.'
She worries about what could happen if the deer population in the region isn't reduced.
'Am I not safe to sit here on my step with my grandson and have him toddle out there?' she said, pointing to her front lawn. 'A pet, yes, it's a family member, but a child? That will be devastating if we lose a child.'
Deer contraception trials wrapping up
For the past several years, the municipalities of Oak Bay and Esquimalt have been studying the effects of contraception on the deer population. Deer are tranquilized, inoculated and tagged. After that, their fawning rates are monitored.
'The early indications from the report that we've got are that it has been successful,' Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch said.
Reports of aggressive deer are rare, but the population still needs to be controlled, he said. They can be spotted regularly around the capital region, munching on gardens and walking into traffic.
Oak Bay has submitted the results of its five-year pilot project for review by the province, which approved the study.
'We're not allowed to touch deer unless the province gives us an OK,' he said. 'Our hope is that the province will look at the data that we're able to provide and agree to allow an immuno-contraceptive program going forward.'
Esquimalt's trial will wrap by the end of the year. Between 2021 and 2023, the township vaccinated 60 deer, Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said.
Like Oak Bay, preliminary results indicate contraception reduces the fawning rate.
'Contraception lasts 22 months, so if you stop the contraception, it is likely that the population will gradually return again,' Desjardins said.
Esquimalt's trial did not include giving the deer booster shots, she said.
'It's going to be very important to be able to convey the findings and what the community requires to the province in order to get buy-in for future, hopefully, funding of contraception, but also just allowing it to occur in communities that are like ours,' she said.