Teen Arrested For Animal Abuse After Riding Deer

Twitter / OSP Fish & Wildlife

An 18-year-old man from Oregon was arrested and charged with animal abuse after authorities were shown a video of him leaping on top of a mule deer buck who got trapped in a feeding enclosure.

Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife officials received information and the “disturbing” video of the event that they say took place on December 6th, 2019 after it had been shared across social media. In a post from the department on Facebook, officials explain that troopers performed a full and thorough investigation of the matter in order to determine who was responsible for the sickening action seen in the footage.

“The video displayed what appeared to be a young adult male climbing onto, and eventually riding on the back of a live and exhausted mule deer buck while it was contained within a fenced enclosure. Throughout the video, the mule deer buck can be heard grunting and/or bleating and after escaping the rider, the buck jumped into a linked fence, multiple times, attempting to escape the enclosure,” Oregon State Police wrote on Facebook.

Police were able to identify two suspects associated with the video and the man shown riding the exhausted deer has been named as Jacob Belcher from Riley, Oregon and another suspect who was behind the camera filming the entire action. The second suspect has yet to be named or arrested.

“Following interviews, Belcher was arrested and lodged at the Harney County Jail on charges of Wildlife Harassment and Animal Abuse II. Another suspect, who was responsible for filming the incident, was identified and interviewed as well. Charges of Aiding in a Wildlife Offense will be referred to the Harney County District Attorney’s Office,” they continued.

The buck shown in the video was eventually freed from the enclosure, but its status and condition are unknown at this time.

Watch the full news report below.

https://www.facebook.com/OSPsocial/photos/pcb.971238803255438/971237549922230/?type=3&theater