Dog Collar Chokes Doe

Someone who put a dog collar on a tame doe before releasing it, or before the deer escaped, sentenced the animal to a grim existence.

Jackie Ammons, of Leesburg, sent GON these photos of a Mitchell County doe that was being choked by a dog collar. Jackie first saw the deer on property near Sale City on the opening weekend of the 1999 season and attempted unsuccessfully to catch the semi-tame deer to remove the collar.

This fall, Jackie saw the deer opening weekend and again the second weekend, which was a doe day. When Jackie saw what bad shape the deer was in, he put it out of its misery.

The dog collar, apparently put on the deer when it was small, had not allowed for the increase in the diameter of the deerʼs neck and had cut through the hide into muscle tissue, restricting both its ability to eat and breathe.

The tightening dog collar had worked through the hide and into the deerʼs flesh. The deer was at least 1 1/2 years old, but weighed only 60 pounds, live. Its stomach contained only a green liquid. Apparently the deer could not swallow acorns or peanuts.