Teh One Who Knocks
01-30-2013, 12:29 PM
By Erik Ortiz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
http://i.imgur.com/UWS02ma.jpg
An Indiana couple who spent two years nursing an injured fawn back to health now face jail time for the act of human kindness.
State officials charged Jeff and Jennifer Counceller with unlawful possession of a deer — a misdemeanor crime that carries up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to The Indianapolis Star.
The potential punishment has sparked an online outcry to have the charges dropped against the Connersville couple: A petition on Change.org had more than 11,000 names Tuesday, while a Facebook page received more than 13,000 “likes.”
The petition’s founder, John Waudby, said he’s also raised $1,000 to pay for any fines the couple might be forced to pay.
“I’ve got their backs on every angle,” Waudby told the Daily News on Tuesday. “It’s not like these people are criminals — they’re good people.”
Waudby hopes the petition will pressure Indiana legislators to get the charges dropped and also target the law itself.
The Councellers couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday, but have previously said the plight of the white-tailed deer — nicknamed Little Orphan Dani — drastically changed their lives.
Jeff Counceller, a Connersville police officer, said he was responding to a house call when he saw the animal on the porch.
She could barely stand and had a wound infested with maggots, he said.
The Councellers contacted the state Department of Natural Resources, who told them to send the animal back into the wild. They also called petting zoos and animal rescue agencies, but no one wanted her, they said.
http://i.imgur.com/xQDLudt.jpg
Returning the animal into the woods “would have been a death sentence," Jeff Counceller told The Star.
As a last resort, the couple left the deer at their 17-acre farm with every intention of releasing it once it was stronger, they said.
The state had suggested the couple obtain a rescue permit, but it was denied — and officials came calling last summer to euthanize the animal because they believed she was a threat to humans.
The possible health threats include Lyme disease, which can be transmitted through deer ticks.
The couple claimed they never knew it's illegal to harbor a deer without a permit.
On the day she was supposed to be killed, Dani went missing when someone left her enclosure open.
The Councellers now plan to fight the charges in court.
The Department of Natural Resources didn’t return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
“We’ve never had any criminal convictions. We're good people," Jennifer Counceller, a nurse, told NBC affiliate WTHR-TV.
“I feel like I’m going to stand up for what I know is right,” she said.
http://i.imgur.com/UWS02ma.jpg
An Indiana couple who spent two years nursing an injured fawn back to health now face jail time for the act of human kindness.
State officials charged Jeff and Jennifer Counceller with unlawful possession of a deer — a misdemeanor crime that carries up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to The Indianapolis Star.
The potential punishment has sparked an online outcry to have the charges dropped against the Connersville couple: A petition on Change.org had more than 11,000 names Tuesday, while a Facebook page received more than 13,000 “likes.”
The petition’s founder, John Waudby, said he’s also raised $1,000 to pay for any fines the couple might be forced to pay.
“I’ve got their backs on every angle,” Waudby told the Daily News on Tuesday. “It’s not like these people are criminals — they’re good people.”
Waudby hopes the petition will pressure Indiana legislators to get the charges dropped and also target the law itself.
The Councellers couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday, but have previously said the plight of the white-tailed deer — nicknamed Little Orphan Dani — drastically changed their lives.
Jeff Counceller, a Connersville police officer, said he was responding to a house call when he saw the animal on the porch.
She could barely stand and had a wound infested with maggots, he said.
The Councellers contacted the state Department of Natural Resources, who told them to send the animal back into the wild. They also called petting zoos and animal rescue agencies, but no one wanted her, they said.
http://i.imgur.com/xQDLudt.jpg
Returning the animal into the woods “would have been a death sentence," Jeff Counceller told The Star.
As a last resort, the couple left the deer at their 17-acre farm with every intention of releasing it once it was stronger, they said.
The state had suggested the couple obtain a rescue permit, but it was denied — and officials came calling last summer to euthanize the animal because they believed she was a threat to humans.
The possible health threats include Lyme disease, which can be transmitted through deer ticks.
The couple claimed they never knew it's illegal to harbor a deer without a permit.
On the day she was supposed to be killed, Dani went missing when someone left her enclosure open.
The Councellers now plan to fight the charges in court.
The Department of Natural Resources didn’t return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
“We’ve never had any criminal convictions. We're good people," Jennifer Counceller, a nurse, told NBC affiliate WTHR-TV.
“I feel like I’m going to stand up for what I know is right,” she said.