Man Mauled By Pet Deer Swears Off Keeping Them As Pets

An Alabama man mauled by his pet deer swears he will never try to keep the creatures as pets again. The man, Julius Dunsmore, was keeping seven deer as pets, which isn’t even legal in the first place.

Dunsmore entered a fenced pen on his property to tend to the deer on October 30 when he was mauled by a nine-point buck. The buck lifted him up on its antlers and carried him for 30 feet, reports Yahoo! News.

One antler punctured Dunsmore’s face and severed an optic nerve, rendering him blind in one eye. He also had puncture wounds in his rib cage, hips, and legs, which will require several surgeries to fix.

Understandably, Dunsmore reaffirmed that he will never again keep deer as pets. It’s a good lesson to learn, though one we’re sure we didn’t need to test out to make sure. The man added, “People need to know that these things are dangerous. You never know when they are going to turn.”

Along with being mauled by the pet deer, Dunsmore was also charged with keeping deer captive, which is illegal in Alabama. Fox News notes that Dunsmore kept deer as pets for years without any problems, until last month. The deer that mauled him was rescued by the man when its mother was killed by a car.

Unfortunately, authorities were forced to kill the deer because they cannot be released into the wild after they have been held by humans. They are also waiting on lab results to see if the animals were infected. Kevin Dodd, an enforcement chief with the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, added, “Illegally captive deer in Alabama have caused numerous serious injuries and one fatality in recent years.”

While we’re not sure why someone would keep a captive deer in the first place, we can guarantee the man mauled by his pet deer won’t ever rescue one again.

[Image via ShutterStock]