A dog is lucky to be alive and on the mend after being attacked by an aggressive deer in Penticton on June 14, 2024.
Tasha O’Krane was walking with her puppy, four-month-old Poppy, after she was stomped on repeatedly by an aggressive deer in an attack she describes as “horribly traumatic.”
Poppy was on her leash, and they were walking down a paved, fenced catwalk that runs alongside an empty lot.
O’Krane told NowMedia that she was working with her dog on heeling when suddenly the deer started coming at them from the other side of the fence.
O’Krane picked up her dog, and even threw some flowers she was holding at the deer to try and deter it. When the deer made like it was about to jump the fence, she didn’t know what to do, but knew she wouldn’t be able to defend herself and the dog in the confined space, so she let her dog go.
She planned to try and scare the deer away while Poppy ran, however the deer went straight for the puppy. O’Krane says the attack happened so quickly, the deer was on Poppy in a matter of seconds.
O’Krane said the deer began stomping on her dog repeatedly. She then ran at the deer, screamed at it and threw her phone towards it without success. It wasn’t until she found a cinderblock and tossed it at the animal that it ran away.
“I've never seen something so scary in my life, honestly. The only thing that would have made it scarier if it was one of my kids,” she said.
After the deer fled, she picked up Poppy and ran home, which was close by. O’Krane and her husband then had to drive Poppy to Fairfield Animal Hospital for emergency treatment after not being able to get into their vet in Penticton.
Poppy suffered a broken right hind leg, a fractured rib, some internal bleeding and bruising on her lungs and liver.
The puppy required a specialized and expensive surgery to fix her broken leg. The only other option was to amputate.
Luckily for Poppy, her owners were able to get the surgery for her thanks to some generous people who donated to a GoFundMe that O’Krane's daughter made.
“I'm so amazed and grateful for all these people that don't even know us, don't know Poppy, and cared enough to help out,” she said, adding that they would have gone into debt to help their dog.
The surgery was on Jun 17, 2024, and now Poppy is back home and recovering from the ordeal.
“I'm really feeling lucky in a way that we still have her,” said O’Krane.
While she is grateful, she is also concerned. There have been other incidents where dogs have been attacked by deer in the area, but not much seems to have been done.
When O’Krane reported the attack to BC Conservation, she was told signage would be put up to warn others, but nothing would be done to move the deer, who is likely protecting a fawn.
Area residents have put up their own signage, warning dog owners not to walk down the sidewalk there. It is unclear if conservation has been to the scene yet.
If a sign had been there to begin with, O’Krane says her dog may not have been hurt because she wouldn’t have walked her in that area.
NowMedia reached out to BC Conservation Officer Service, but did not receive a response before publishing.
However, in a public service announcement issued this spring, the officers said that a deer can be expected to “defend her baby from real or perceived threats-including nearby humans and their pets.”
