SPCA frustrated by fawn 'adoptions'

VICTORIA, British Columbia, May 28 (UPI) -- Animal officials on Western Canada's Vancouver Island say they're frustrated by a recent spate of people "adopting" fawns as pets, which is illegal.

Sara Dubois of the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the Victoria Times-Colonist the group is aware of at least five such incidents in the past two weeks.

She said there was concern about retrieving the most recent case from a home Tuesday, so the SPCA asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to assist.

The unidentified family said they had been keeping the fawn alongside the family dog in their yard for the past four days, but they turned it over without protest, Dubois said.

"People think it would be a really cool experience for the kids to rear wildlife." she said. "This is not a Disney movie. They (deer) need to be left with their mothers."

Of the four other fawns rescued, one died and the other was reunited with its mother, she said.

Female deer often leave their fawns alone to reduce attracting predators and return to nurse the fawns several times a day, Dubois said.