Navy officers beat deer with shovel and slit throat - Virginia Beach, VA

Sunday, Mar 31, 2002

County: Virginia Beach City

Disposition: Not Charged

Persons of Interest:
» Name Undisclosed
» Name Undisclosed

Animal-rights activists and wildlife rescuers are criticizing the Navy over an incident at Oceana Naval Air Station, where staff destroyed two badly injured deer by beating them with a shovel and cutting their throats.

The Navy is defending the actions of two base workers, saying they used "the best available, immediate means to end these animals' suffering at that particular time and place," Capt. C.A. Silvers, Oceana's commanding officer, said in a letter to one animal group.

"While it is unfortunate that this incident occurred, it was handled safely and appropriately," Silvers wrote in his April 8 letter.

Several local wildlife rehabilitators were stunned to learn of the episode, calling it inhumane, contrary to accepted euthanasia practices and possibly illegal. One group is pressing the Navy to develop humane procedures for responding to injured animals discovered on the sprawling air base in Virginia Beach, and to equip its outdoor specialists with tranquilizing guns and other equipment. 

The event also adds another chapter to a long-running national debate over when and how to humanely euthanize wounded wildlife in the field, where sophisticated drugs and devices often are not available.

"It is possible to stun an animal to allow the (throat-cutting), but a shovel is never an accepted implement," said Edward E. Clark Jr., president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

According to Navy officials and eyewitnesses, three deer ran across an Oceana airfield and struck a fence near a hangar and parking lot about 1 p.m. on April 1. One died immediately. Two others were mortally wounded, writhing on the ground in pain.

A local wildlife rescuer was called, as were a Navy conservation officer and a natural resources specialist. Before the rehabilitator arrived, the two staffers decided to euthanize the injured deer on the spot.

But they chose not to use a firearm in their possession "due to the number and proximity of persons nearby, and for other reasons of safety," according to Silvers.

Instead, the workers retrieved what eyewitnesses described as a shovel -- the Navy would only say that the two used "blunt force" -- and beat the deer unconscious before cutting their throats with a knife to ensure death.

Attempts to obtain additional information about the incident, the workers involved and their training were unsuccessful despite repeated phone calls to the Oceana public affairs office.

Oceana spokesman Troy Snead said Tuesday that he had not heard of the case but was "sure nothing was done wrong."

PETA is especially concerned that the two employees used a shovel and a knife to destroy the deer, arguing that such actions do not constitute euthanasia and might be construed as animal cruelty, a criminal offense.

Stephanie Boyles, a PETA biologist and investigator, said the group would not have had a problem if the workers had fired their weapons at close range into the deer -- a view shared by several wildlife rehabilitators and experts.

"It sounds very odd, very unusual, for them to resort to such force," said Diana Krell, a humane educator for the Norfolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "They have guns, don't they? That's easily the better way to go."

State game wardens are trained to euthanize a mortally wounded wild animal with a close-range gunshot. If safety is a concern, the wardens would likely cover the animal with a sheet or blanket and move it to a more appropriate place for firing a weapon, said Col. Jeff Uerz, chief of law enforcement and administration with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Uerz said such protocol is spelled out in a lesson plan, modeled after one by the American Veterinary Medical Association, that each warden receives during formal training.

PETA has asked the Navy to adopt similar standards and training for its wildlife personnel. The Navy so far has not responded to the request.

References

• Virginia Pilot

« Back to Search Results
« VA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Virginia Beach City County, VA

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.