Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Mich. Officer Fired After Killing 'Friendly' Deer Against Department Instructions
Police1 ^ | Oct 30, 2023

Posted on 11/01/2023 2:02:52 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Mich. officer fired after killing 'friendly' deer against department instructions"He acted independently [and] committed multiple policy violations in his decision to euthanize [Annie the deer],” Chief Mario RedLegs saidOct 30, 2023 By Joanna Putman Police1

VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich. — An officer has been fired after he went against instructions from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and euthanized a deer that locals called “Annie,” News Channel 3 reported.

While responding to an unrelated domestic incident on Oct. 20, Officer David Loza wrangled the deer with a neck strap and shot it to death. Residents were outraged, according to the report.

Pokagon Tribal Police Department Chief Mario RedLegs released a statement Friday saying that Loza had consulted with his supervising officer about the deer, but had ignored his instructions, according to the report.

"Despite consulting with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and his supervising officer, Mr. Loza ignored comments from citizens and misidentified Annie as a 'pet deer.' He acted independently, committed multiple policy violations in his decision to euthanize Annie without just cause," RedLegs said.

The statement continued, " His actions demonstrated a complete lack of compassion and empathy for Annie as well as the witnesses and other members who willingly provided her with love and support."

Annie had become friendly with local residents, according to reports. Lawrence resident Pamela Babb told News Channel 3 her family rescued Annie two years ago after the fawn's mother was hit and killed by a car.


TOPICS: Local News; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: anniethedeer; compassion; davidloza; deer; dnr; doe; donutwatch; empathy; load; zerocompassion
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last
To: Yo-Yo

“Must have mistook the Deer for the family dog...”

Or a shark. If someone in a black wet suit that looks like a seal and swims in the ocean near the seals in an area with no shark nets can get bit just by being there, what’s the difference?

wy69


21 posted on 11/01/2023 2:39:24 PM PDT by whitney69 (yption tunnels)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: riverrunner

It was a rescued deer. It was tamed. That is the rest of the story.


22 posted on 11/01/2023 2:46:25 PM PDT by roving (👌⚓Deplorable Listless Vessel with Trumpitist who looks Trumpish)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

He must have mistaken it for dog.


23 posted on 11/01/2023 3:00:54 PM PDT by READINABLUESTATE (Make orwell fiction again)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FateAmenableToChange

“they’ve caused a professional to lose his job”

No, Deputy Dooshbag lost his job because he went against orders and had no authority to kill the deer. It’s all on him. He owns this.


24 posted on 11/01/2023 3:07:42 PM PDT by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

What was the deer doing that it needed to be shot? I still don’t fully understand.


25 posted on 11/01/2023 3:07:59 PM PDT by servo1969
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

“Chief Mario RedLegs released a statement Friday saying that Loza had consulted with his supervising officer about the deer, but had ignored his instructions, according to the report.”

Cops who will not follow the orders of the supervisor get fired... Next case.


26 posted on 11/01/2023 3:15:08 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

“I’z skerred for my life, sir.”


27 posted on 11/01/2023 3:17:02 PM PDT by moovova ("The NEXT election is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FateAmenableToChange

It’s idiotic of him that he refused to follow direct orders. And it’s typical of our modern -extremist- government that if a deer lets an officer pet it, it obviously needs to be killed on the spot as a menace.
All my life there has been the occasional campground or neighbor or whatever where a tame deer lets people feed it or something. Sane people enjoy such things.

He needs some serious psych evaluation.


28 posted on 11/01/2023 3:22:50 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: servo1969

“What was the deer doing that it needed to be shot? I still don’t fully understand.”

Some nutbars in the animal control business have it in their heads that all wildlife that is tolerant of or friendly to humans must be killed.

The thing here is that in Michigan it is legal to have pet deer if you have a permit.


29 posted on 11/01/2023 3:22:55 PM PDT by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

All wild animals are friendly...until they’re not.


30 posted on 11/01/2023 3:24:16 PM PDT by Jotmo (Whoever said, "The pen is mightier than the sword." has clearly never been stabbed to death.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DesertRhino

“He needs some serious psych evaluation.”

He probably failed his initial psych evaluation and the department hired him anyway. That’s a very common occurrence in the policing industry.


31 posted on 11/01/2023 3:24:20 PM PDT by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Jotmo

“All wild animals are friendly...until they’re not.”

Very true. When we first moved to Wyoming we had a very cold winter with -25F temps. This one morning I went out the front door to clear the steps from drift snow and found a fox huddled on the steps. It ran into the house and jumped up on a couch and bundled itself up. We had it about two weeks. It was friendly enough but not terribly affectionate. It ate cat food but did not eat the cats.

At the end of the two weeks it wanted out. We let it out and it visited the following winter but after that we never saw it again.

We also had a winter where some bison came over from the park to forage and we put out some hay for them. They ate and then moved on. Our fences were a joke to them.


32 posted on 11/01/2023 3:31:13 PM PDT by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: roving
It was a rescued deer. It was tamed. That is the rest of the story.

We have deer in our neighborhood who have been fed by hand from the time they were fawns. Some, but not all were orphaned after their mothers were hit by cars or killed by dogs. Many of them have no fear of people at all and don't mind being pet. Most are more like community pets than wild animals. They often lay around in people's back yards. They remind me of the cows that I grew up with.

Many years ago, before I was promoted, we were just about to go under the freeway when my officer yelled out that he saw a couple cows running near the off ramp. We were late for a meeting, so we didn't stop.

On the way back we got a call from our communications center and were told to go assist the police behind a Denny's restaurant. There were about a dozen police cars and the SWAT team van. One of the cows had given itself up and was back in the stock trailer the two of them had fallen out of. But the other cow was in the middle of a bunch of blackberry bushes munching on grass and bushes.

The head of the swat team came running up frantically and said that they needed one of our ladders so that one of his sharp shooters could shoot the cow. I grew up with cattle, so I said, “Just give me a second and I will grab a bucket and some gravel and get the cow back in its trailer.

The head of the swat team yelled at me and said, “It's too late for that... this is a wild range cow and it is a danger to the public.”

I went over to the woman who was standing next to the pickup that was towing the trailer. I asked her where the cows were from. She said that they belonged to her neighbor girls who had raised them from calves as a 4H project in their backyard which was about an acre. They were on their way to a 4H event where the girls had planned to show them.

The police “sharp shooter” began shooting the cow in its side with a .223 caliber rifle. The cow started moving around a bit and eventually fell over, but still had to be shot in the head to kill it. Killing what was essentially a couple of young girl's pet was a completely unnecessary and cruel fiasco.

33 posted on 11/01/2023 3:31:27 PM PDT by fireman15 (Irritating people are the grit from which we fashion our pearl. I provide the grit. You're Welcome.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Ken H

Okay.....
How does this differ from what I just said?


34 posted on 11/01/2023 3:38:43 PM PDT by joe fonebone (And the people said NO! The End)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway
officers were called to her property on an unrelated child support incident when Loza spotted the animal she and her family had cared for since she was just a fawn.

“He reached out and put his hand on her head, and he said, ‘She is domesticated and needs to be put down,” Babb recounted to WWMT.

Unbelievable stupidity on the part of the officer who killed the deer........He should be stripped of all Law Enforcement credentials and never again allowed to be a member of any law enforcement agency.....

35 posted on 11/01/2023 3:48:48 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MeganC

You’re not wrong about that!


36 posted on 11/01/2023 3:50:48 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: riverrunner
Well there has to be more to the story.

Why? What do you actually want to read?

37 posted on 11/01/2023 3:51:18 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

Came real close to hitting one this summer in Hayden.


38 posted on 11/01/2023 3:51:57 PM PDT by Cottonhill (Cottonhill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Fido969

I don’t think you watch the video. I doubt you’ve ever eaten venison in your life either.


39 posted on 11/01/2023 3:55:32 PM PDT by freedomjusticeruleoflaw (Strange that a man with his wealth would have to resort to prostitution.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MeganC

That is quite a statement and you are correct.

An animal is friendly to a human. The authority figure human sees this as a danger severe enough that he must kill it immediately.

Explain to a Martian fresh off the saucer, which one is the menace?
Lord hope this guy never sees a swim with the dolphins advertisement


40 posted on 11/01/2023 3:55:41 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson