Deer scares Princeton family, stomps on pet dogs

Nicki McIvor said it's lucky her 23-year-old daughter was not trampled by an aggressive deer.

When Christie let her dogs out just after dusk on Tuesday, she saw a deer had jumped the fence into the yard on the family's Princeton, B.C., property.

The family's small shih tzu mix chased the deer. Instead of running away, the animal starting stomping on the dog, McIvor said.

"It was on its back legs. Its hooves were in the air and it was pounding the little dog," she said.

"It happened so fast and the dogs were just going crazy, and this thing was just not afraid, not afraid at all."

McIvor says the deer then attacked the family's pit bull terrier, and when Christie tried to rescue the shih tzu, the deer charged at her.

"It more or less just charged her and scared the heck right out of her," McIvor said. "It just happened so quick. It's just lucky she didn't get trampled." 

The deer finally ran away when McIvor's husband got between the deer and her daughter, waving a shovel. 

McIvor captured another encounter of a deer with her dog.

Urban deer problem growing

McIvor said urban deer have increasingly become a problem in Princeton. 

"These things are mean, and they are not like bush deer at all," she said.

She is one of more than 100 people who have joined a Facebook group calling for the town to take action to control deer in the Similkameen community.

She believes too many people are feeding deer, and that has caused the animals to lose their fear of humans and dogs. She wants town officials to do a better job of fining people who break the bylaw against feeding the animals.

The Town of Princeton said it is studying the issue, and has applied to WildSafe B.C. for a grant to hire a co-ordinator to develop a wildlife control strategy for the community.