Friendly Deer Seized By DNR After Becoming Popular On Social Media

change.org / Heavan Hedrick

Last summer Trixi Lopez from Fishers, Indiana found a baby deer in danger near her house. He was beside the road, close to traffic and without his mother. Trixi rescued the little fella from the cars, loved on him a little bit, and then left him to run back off into the woods. However, Trixi’s huskies had other plans with the baby deer.

“We thought he would end up leaving, just taking off and not coming back, but he actually started forming a really great bond with our dogs,” Trixi told FOX. “Our oldest dog, Cari, instantly started acting like a mother to him.”

The deer continued to run around with the dogs in the yard and over time even followed them into the house through the doggy door to take naps and get treats. Trixi and her husband Saul Lopez didn’t mind the deer chose to hang out with their dogs, so they just let them do their thing.

They filmed some great videos and took pictures of the deer who they later named Bimbo. The deer started to become popular in the neighborhood and on social media and eventually, the story made its way to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It wasn’t long after that officials came knocking on their door.

On January 20, 2021, Capt. Jet Quillen with the DNR showed up to Trixi’s house with Fishers Animal Control officers to seize Bimbo. According to the law in Indiana, it is illegal to own a white-tailed deer as a pet and it had to be removed. In the Lopez family’s defense, Bimbo was not their pet, he was simply a neighborhood animal friend but, nevertheless, they were sad to see him go.

“We understand that these situations can be difficult and we have empathy for the family, but we can’t overlook the law,” Quillen told FOX. “It’s not fair for that wild animal to be kept as a pet. Wild animals are meant to be wild.”

Bimbo was immediately taken to a wildlife rehabilitation facility where they will “retrain” him on how to be a wild animal again. The family has not given up on trying to fight to keep Bimbo though. Within hours of his confiscation, a petition was started called Free Bimbo and already 800+ people have signed it.

Watch DNR Seize Bimbo The Deer Below