Government Steals Woman’s Pet Deer, Arrests Her for Resisting—Because of Course They Did

What happens when the government can arrest you for having a pet?

Photo by Scott Carroll on Unsplash

Here we go again.

In yet another case of the government deciding it knows best, a Pennsylvania woman is facing criminal charges after state officials seized her pet deer and arrested her for trying to stop them.

Tammy Shiery of Bullskin Township had been caring for a deer named Baby for over two years, treating him like a family member. But the Pennsylvania Game Commission decided that wasn’t allowed, stormed in, took Baby away, and slapped Shiery with charges for daring to resist their authority.

Big Brother Decides You Can’t Have a Pet Deer

Shiery and her neighbors found Baby as a fawn and raised him with care—vaccinating him, neutering him, and even tagging him to comply with what they thought were the proper regulations. According to Shiery, she had paperwork proving Baby was legally permitted.

“So, he had all the vaccines that they do for deer farms,” Shiery told CBS Pittsburgh.

She even went the extra mile, getting Baby castrated to make sure he stayed docile—because, let’s be real, no one wants a testosterone-fueled buck charging through the neighborhood.

But the Pennsylvania Game Commission wasn’t having it. The state’s wildlife laws say that unless an animal is born in captivity, it remains wild and can’t be domesticated. And since Baby was originally from the wild, that meant, in the eyes of the state, he was their property—not hers.

The State Storms In—Because What’s a Government Operation Without Force?

The Game Commission showed up at Shiery’s home with a search warrant, ready to take Baby away. He was wearing a collar and being led alongside a vehicle when officers swooped in. Shiery, unsurprisingly, wasn’t about to let them take her beloved pet without a fight.

As officers tied up and dragged the deer away, Shiery screamed, “You’re hurting him!” But resistance was futile. The state had spoken.

“What is your response to people who are online, posting comments, calling the Game Commission almost evil for taking this deer away?” CBS reporter Barry Pintar asked Andy Harvey, an information and education supervisor with the Game Commission.

Harvey, in peak bureaucratic fashion, responded:

“That’s something I’ve received quite a few phone calls about as well and talking about people all morning long and yesterday, but the fact is, I mean, it is illegal to possess wildlife so that’s not something we can overlook. Whenever we are sworn in as officers, our job is to enforce the game law.”

Translation: We don’t make the rules, we just blindly enforce them—even when they don’t make sense. Par for the course for far too many local and state governments, is it not?

‘It’s for Your Safety,’ Says the State—As Always

Of course, the government never just admits it’s overreaching. No, no, it’s always for your safety. Trust us, or we’ll lock you up. And that’s exactly what the Game Commission is claiming here.

“You have that safety risk. They still have that wild aspect to them,” Harvey explained. “An adult male deer in this situation can do some serious damage to a person, kids, other pets, different things like that, and they never lose that wild aspect to them.”

Now, as I stated previously—this deer was neutered, vaccinated, and had been living with people since it was a baby. It wasn’t out roaming the woods sharpening its antlers for a sneak attack. Yet, the local government acted as if he were some dangerous beast on the loose waiting to terrorize the community.

Harvey even brought up an example of a different case, where a deer gored someone.

“I do remember one instance where, it was the same situation, someone took a deer in at a young age, habituated it and then it became a full-sized adult male deer with antlers and in the fall, it gored the couple, puncturing their body with its antlers and sent them to the hospital.”

Perhaps the town should outlaw dogs as pets, right? After all, sometimes dogs bite people.

Again, Baby wasn’t an aggressive buck in rut—he was a neutered pet. But why let common sense get in the way of government enforcement?

What Happens to Baby?

Despite public outcry, the state isn’t backing down. The Game Commission insists Baby wasn’t euthanized—at least not yet. It is common practice for the government to kill the animals it steals from American citizens.

“Frankly, we just don’t know at this point. I will assure everybody it was not just taken down the road and euthanized, it was taken to a licensed facility,” Harvey said.

Shiery, meanwhile, is now facing criminal charges for interfering with law enforcement. She could face a combined maximum sentence of up to 180 days (approximately six months) in jail and fines totaling up to $4,000. She plans to fight the case in court, and supporters are rallying to get Baby returned.

When Government Enforces Nonsensical Laws

But that’s going to be an uphill battle because once the government takes something, it rarely gives it back. Welcome to the land of the free—where even raising a deer can get you arrested.

In cases such as this, we must ask ourselves a few questions. For starters, does the law make sense? In this case, it is difficult to argue that Shiery committed some horrific transgression against her community.

Shiery violated nobody’s rights. She stole no property and caused no harm to any person or animal in this situation. Is Pennsylvania’s government truly protecting the people when its officers arrest a woman for taking in a baby deer?

Of course not.

Yet, all 50 states and local governments have laws such as these—useless measures that needlessly criminalize people without actually protecting anyone’s rights. Not only is this tyrannical, it is a huge waste of money. Exactly how much did the state of Pennsylvania spend to arrest Shiery and steal her pet? Probably far more than we think.

This is happening in communities across the country. It will continue as long as we allow it. The question is: When will we finally start fighting back?