Pittsburgh-Area Woman Arrested After Keeping Deer As Pet

FAYETTE COUNTY, PA — A Bullskin Township woman was arrested Tuesday after allegedly interfering with a Pennsylvania Game Commission investigation of a deer she was keeping on her property as a pet.

According to the game commission, the inquiry involved "the unlawful possession of a white-tailed deer taken from the wild." Possessing or taking animals from the wild as pets is prohibited under state law.

When a game warden saw the deer, it was wearing a dog collar and on the road beside a vehicle. The driver, later identified as Tamara Shiery, 64, was escorting it back to her home.

When Shiery refused the warden entry into the fenced-in area of her property where the deer was kept, state police arrested her for interfering with the execution of a valid search warrant.

The deer was removed from the property and taken to a licensed facility, where it was discovered the buck had been castrated and altered to prohibit antler growth.

Wildlife poses a safety risk and should not be handled or possessed, the game commission said in a news release. Any reports of sick, injured, or abandoned wildlife should be reported to the game commission at 1-833-742-9453.