Deer living in B.C. home has to go, officials demand
10-year-old 'Bimbo' has lived in Vancouver Island home since it was a fawn
CBC News
Posted: Jan 16, 2013 5:33 AM PT
Last Updated: Jan 16, 2013 9:38 AM PT
Bimbo the black-tailed deer shares some food with her human house mate in Ucluelet, B.C. (Submitted by Janet Schwartz)The B.C. owner of a domesticated deer that likes to eat cookies, watch TV and dance to rock and roll says provincial officials are once again demanding she turn the animal loose.
The black-tailed deer has been living inside Janet Schwartz's home in the Vancouver Island town of Ucluelet since it was a fawn, and Schwartz is refusing to force the 10-year-old animal out.
In 2009, officials with the B.C. Ministry of Environment ordered Schwartz to set the deer free or take it to a rehabilitation centre, saying wild animals should not be kept as pets.
Schwartz said she and the deer, which she’s named Bimbo, have been living happily since provincial officials backed off when the story first hit the media.
"She's still living in the house, she still sleeps on the bed and she still loves Elvis Presley,” Schwartz told CBC News.
But on Tuesday, environmental officers were back.
“The ministry of the environment came here with a new paper, stating I've got to let Bimbo loose totally — no collar, no bell, no nothing. If I don't let her go, they're going to charge me.”
Complicating matters is the fact that Bimbo is pregnant.
"She's been pregnant a month and she's craving cookies like you wouldn't believe, chocolate cookies,” said Schwartz.
Bimbo has her own bed in Schwartz's home. (Submitted by Janet Schwartz)Schwartz said she isn’t sure if it was a male elk or a buck deer who visited Bimbo in her outside pen.
Schwartz said she's not sure what she'll do with the fawn when it’s born, but said as far as she’s concerned, Bimbo isn't going anywhere.
"I'm not going to let her go, no way.”
With files from the CBC's Rob ZimmermanShare Tools
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