Chantelle Bartsch cradled a fawn on the side of the road as she waited for the RCMP and Conservation Officers to arrive on scene earlier this month.
She had been driving by when she saw the animal, and instinctively knew it had been hit by a car.
“I’ve never been able to leave a fawn at the side of the road,” Bartsch said.
Other bystanders had already called for help, but had left the fawn on the hot concrete. She scooped him up and cradled him in the shade until the officers arrived.
Bartsch said she managed to calm the animal down and cool him off, but knew his back was broken because his hind legs weren’t moving.
“As a hunter, as a conservationist… I had tears in my eyes,” she said.
The fawn was put down when the RCMP and the Conservation Officer arrived on the scene.
Had it survived Bartsch said she would have taken it to the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (MARS), as she has with many other fawns that she has found on the side of the road.
Though she wouldn’t normally advocate for people to touch wildlife, in this case Bartsch said she felt it was the best thing to do for the suffering animal.
Bartsch believes the animals were in town looking for food when the fawn was hit by a car and reminds people to put fences around their gardens and pick up the fruit that falls from their trees to help keep the animals away.
