A small one-year-old puppy was killed by a deer on a property in Kamloops.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Tania Hennigar

A Kamloops resident lost her one-year-old puppy earlier this month when it was stomped to death in her yard by a mother dear trying to protect its fawns.

Tania Hennigar is mourning the loss of the beloved little dog called Valentino and wrote to iNFOnews.ca the ordeal was “a punch to the heart.”

On Sept. 3, the day after the tragic incident, Hennigar made a post to social media warning others to keep an eye on small dogs and children playing in their yards as fences don’t keep the deer out.

“The summer is coming to an end, and deer rutting season is just getting started,” it read. “As beautiful as nature can be it can also be so cruel. Yesterday, we lost our beloved one year old puppy, who was trying to protect his yard, from a momma deer who was just trying to protect her fawns.”

In the Okanagan, the problem of aggressive mother deer attacking people and dogs has been highly visible for years with numerous incidents occurring in the past year yet no one has come up with a plan to do something about it.

On June 15, Penticton resident Jackie Hooper was attacked and injured by a mother deer while protecting her dog from it on a city street. Less than a week prior to that an aggressive mother deer attacked a woman in West Kelowna and killed one of her dogs.

On May 31, part of the Gellatly Nut Farm was closed off for several days following an aggressive encounter between a deer and a patron. A dog was kicked to death by a deer in the park last year, amid numerous reports of aggressive deer.

A deer crosses a street in Penticton in this undated photo.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

This past summer Penticton city councillor Amelia Boultbee told iNFOnews.ca she is looking into the problem after receiving multiple phone calls this year from residents reporting dangerous encounters with deer.

“The issue is fraught with controversy because deer are cute little animals and no one wants to see people doing anything bad to them,” she said in a previous interview. “I promised when I was elected, I’d bring issues forward even if they aren’t popular.”

WildSafeBC is an organization leading the province in preventing conflict with wildlife. 

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The organization doesn’t have a way to record or track wildlife reports and can't say whether the issue of deer conflicts is growing, however an emailed statement to iNFOnews.ca said deer conflict is one of the more common topics they talk about.

“Although injuries inflicted upon humans are typically minor in severity, deer do have the ability to inflict serious harm,” it reads. “Pets, especially dogs, are at a higher risk of encountering a defensive deer too closely and being injured as a result.

“Dogs that are off-leash and not under proper control are at risk the most.”

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Some of the preventative measures dog owners can take include always keeping pets on a leash and under control, staying a good distance away or taking a detour around deer, and carrying bear spray in areas where it is appropriate to do so for protection if a defensive attack is imminent.

WildSafeBC continues to work on increasing awareness of the conflicts and promoting safe ways to respond.

A social media group was formed this year to track encounters with dangerous deer in Penticton. 

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