Brolly is wrapped in a bandage at the vet's office after being attacked and gored by a mule deer buck in Redcliff, Alta. (Photo Courtesy Rory Schaeffer)

By Chris Brown

Public safety concerns

Deer killed after attacking, goring two dogs in Redcliff

Dec 13, 2022 | 4:47 PM

REDCLIFF, AB – Deer on the streets of Medicine Hat and Redcliff are a common sight which can be cute to see from a distance.

Redcliff’s Rory Schaeffer learned first-hand last month that they pose significant danger when he happened upon a large mule deer buck when in the coulees near Jesmond Drive and the town’s cemetery walking his dog Brolly.

“He got within about 15 feet of the deer and the deer came at him, caught him with his antlers, he tossed him,” Schaeffer recalls about the Nov. 23 incident. “He yelped, I got in between him and the deer and even the deer was actually nodding his head and panting like he wanted to come at me. I picked up the dog and ran.”

Schaeffer rushed Brolly to emergency surgery and says he is recovering slowly. Muscles in his abdomen were badly torn, Schaeffer says, so Brolly has to be kept as immobile as possible for the time being.

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He estimates it was a six-point buck and after the attack learned many other townspeople had encountered it and another dog had been attacked before Brolly.

“It was actually quite alarming how many people have had interactions with this buck,” he says.

Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services investigated the attacks and evaluated the situation.

“After locating the deer and due to public safety concerns as a result of the animal’s aggressive behaviour, officers made the difficult decision to euthanize the mule deer buck,” reads a statement.

Schaeffer says the Town of Redcliff bylaw department has been good and is trying to deal with deer in the town but it ultimately falls under provincial jurisdiction.

He says something needs to be done before there’s another attack.

“We have the deer, where they roam where they are normally, we have a toboggan hill that’s right close by. So you have a lot of children out there and it could be unsupervised children that don’t know. So yeah safety issue for children and then obviously, safety issue for pets as well,” he says.

Fish and Wildlife says the meat from the deer killed was donated to the Root Cellar Food & Wellness Hub through the Alberta Hunters Sharing the Harvest Program.

Learn more about human-deer conflict and how to minimize it at alberta.ca/deer.aspx