Police officer makes surprising discovery

Saturday, January 19, 2008

It began as a routine call to check on an injured deer, but what one Putnam County police officer witnessed on the beat this week left him looking like a deer in headlights.

Late Thursday night, Cloverdale Town Marshal Don Pearson was dispatched for a report of an injured deer near a residence on, none other than, Doe Creek Road. The animal, according to the homeowner who called in the report, appeared to have sustained some type of injury to one of its back legs.

Pearson arrived at the home a short time later to find the homeowner standing in his front yard and the deer on the ground nearby. As Pearson stepped out of his patrol car and began walking toward the man, he was surprised to see the deer also begin making his way forward.

"I thought it was gonna walk right up to me and want me to pet it," Pearson said.

Pearson and the man stood by and observed the deer for a while and determined that, yes, it did seem to have sustained an injury to its leg but otherwise seemed quite healthy.

"It just looked like a normal, healthy doe, except for the leg was injured," Pearson said.

But closer examination revealed something that shocked the long-time officer.

As he looked down the body of the deer, Pearson noticed what could best be described as a pink dog collar, about 1 inch wide, securely fastened around the animal's neck. The doe showed no fear and didn't try to run off when approached.

Pearson radioed back to the dispatch center and was put in contact with a DNR officer who told him that it isn't unusual for people to have deer as pets, but it came as a surprise to Pearson.

After observing the animal for a while, Pearson watched as it eventually sauntered off into the nearby woods and disappeared from sight.

Pearson said he drove back to the area the next day, but the deer was nowhere to be found. It was an experience he enjoys talking about and won't forget soon.

"It was one of those things that in all my years in law enforcement, I've never experienced," he said with a laugh. "It's something you don't see every day."

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  • Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?

    -- Posted by strings on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 1:59 AM
  • It's about time something good happens in Cloverdale.

    -- Posted by indy_500 on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 4:24 AM
  • This event actually required a full-length article in the paper??? Please!!!

    -- Posted by cloverlady on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 11:34 AM
  • No one wrote an article when my cat caught a flying squirrel(endangered species)and I took it to Lieber so the DNR could habilitate it and release it back into the wild.

    -- Posted by cloverlady on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 11:37 AM
  • In a related story,the Cloverdale town council disagreed if the deer was actually a giraffe or a deer and voted 3-2 that it was in fact not a yak....some were overheard indicating that they wanted to file a lawsuit against someone.....

    -- Posted by c-dale on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 1:08 PM
  • Above where I'm writing it says to be respectful of others. I think you're remarks are hurtful. I thought it was a nice change. Maybe the officer did too. Maybe he thought he'd share something pleasant with everyone for a change. He may not care for things that interest you either. We need to respect everyones interests. Another sad thought is that the people making fun of him are probably adults. Adults.....the ones that are supposed to be setting role models for our kids.....so that when they go out into the world without us they will hopefully make the right decisions. By watching you make fun of people they are learning to do the same at school to other kids which also leads to bullying for some.

    -- Posted by againstschoolpolitics on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 3:24 PM
  • C-dale, that was a good one. At least it made me laugh. You should write your own column....Everyone else that read your blog has to admit it was funny!

    -- Posted by cty-govt-a-muck on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 4:20 PM
  • oh absolutely not. i dont feel any of this is bullying either. please re-read the post to understand better.

    -- Posted by againstschoolpolitics on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 4:54 PM
  • I'm glad there are positives coming out of Cloverdale, but is this really news? A supposed pet deer found with a slight leg injury walks off from the police?!

    -- Posted by purple_heat on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 6:18 PM
  • you all should get a life and grow up, people like you is why kids act like they do...loosers...........

    -- Posted by billy b on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 6:37 PM
  • chief pearson, money well spent! cloverdale must be proud at least he's doing something......i think! oh dear..or is it oh deer...whatever

    -- Posted by gottokno on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 7:43 PM
  • Well if the La Charreada was still here, i bet i know where that deer would of ended up. lol

    -- Posted by bcraig3 on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 8:06 PM
  • I thought c-dale's comment was funny too! I wish I lived in a perfect world where this comment blog seemed "hurtful" because these comments are mild compared to what has been written in the recent past.

    ***you all should get a life and grow up, people like you is why kids act like they do...loosers...........

    Posted by billy b on Sat, Jan 19, 2008, at 6:37 PM***

    againstschoolpolitics, what about this comment? Isn't this hurtful? billy b, what is a "loosers" anyway? Is that the opposite of "tighters"?

    -- Posted by strings on Sun, Jan 20, 2008, at 5:18 AM
  • In reference to bcraig3, thank you! I almost spit my coffee all over the screen. As for the new Mexican Rest, relatives of the old La Cha. were seen in there working on renovations.

    -- Posted by HelloMcFly on Mon, Jan 21, 2008, at 9:20 AM
  • I don't really think the comments are focused as much on the police as this being something worthy of a Banner Graphic news article.

    -- Posted by cloverlady on Mon, Jan 21, 2008, at 9:48 AM
  • C-dale - cracked me up! Thanks for the laugh!

    Cloverdale has police?

    -- Posted by mal on Mon, Jan 21, 2008, at 2:23 PM
  • Pink Collar? The wild deer is to Cloverdale as the Chihuahua is to Paris Hilton....

    -- Posted by clearwat on Tue, Jan 22, 2008, at 3:28 PM
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