Deer harassment at B.C. bachelor party costs man $5K

A Portuguese man caught on video harassing a deer during his bachelor party near Kitimat, in northern British Columbia, has been ordered to pay $5,000 to a B.C. wildlife charity.

Rodolfo Augusto Martins Lopes admitted he tried to haul the deer aboard a charter boat on the Douglas Channel in May while on the way back from a day of salmon fishing with friends.

According to Conservation Officer Ryan Gordon and the Crown, Lopes hit the swimming deer on the head with a gaff trying to get it in the boat.

"I don't really know what was going on in their heads there. It's certainly the most heinous harassed wildlife occurrence I've ever seen in my life as a conservation officer," Gordon said.

The gaff broke in half. The deer swam away with half the gaff on its body, got to shore and disappeared into the trees.

"It was probably pretty stressed out," Gordon said. "We're not sure if there were any major injuries or whether it survived the incident."

Lopes's lawyer, Don Corchoran, has said there's no evidence the deer was injured.

Video posted on Facebook

The incident was reported to conservation officials after someone posted video of part of the attack on Facebook.

Lopes was charged with causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal, in addition to Wildlife Act charges.

The video has been taken down.

Lopes, who had also been celebrating the end of a long stint of work for a Portuguese subcontractor with the Rio Tinto Alcan modernization in Kitimat, returned to Europe and got married. 

Cochoran appeared in Terrace court on his behalf to make a plea bargain that allowed Lopes to plead guilty to harassing wildlife with a motor vehicle. The other charges were stayed in the deal.

The judge ordered Lopes not to approach big game for two years, and ordered him to pay $5,000 to B.C.'s Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

The charity's CEO, Brian Springinotic, says that money is now earmarked to help wildlife in the Kitimat area.

Boat owner also charged

"I think people can take some comfort that this money will find its way back to benefiting wildlife in that part of the world," Springinotic said. "To me there is a certain beauty to that symmetry."

Lopes and his friends had chartered the boat involved in the incident from Kitimat's Kingfish Westcoast Adventures, and owner Andreas Handl was captaining the boat at the time.

Handl has been charged with causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal, as well as Wildlife Act charges.

Handl did not wish to comment on the proceedings. He will appear in court in October.