‘Completely inhumane.’ South MS men charged after graphic deer hanging video surfaces
Two South Mississippi men watched and recorded video as an injured deer strung up by its neck struggled to stay alive, flailing around with its lower body and hind legs.
The deer died, and the video was be posted on Facebook and Snapchat.
The men claim the deer ran into a fence, broke its neck, and they killed it with a “high-powered pellet gun” before stringing it up by the neck in the garage of a home in Leakesville.
The Sun Herald obtained a copy of the video along with the charging documents filed in the case against Dylan Shane Carter, 21, of Lucedale, and Blake Michael Fontenot, 25, of Leakesville.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks investigated the case.
Carter shared the video on social media after it happened in late February, prompting outrage among social media users, many of whom are avid hunters who call what they saw in the video “inhumane.”
At least one Mississippi residents was so disturbed by the video that they sent a copy of the footage to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to investigate.
According to the charging documents, a MDWFP officer arrested Carter and Fontenot on Feb. 24 on the animal cruelty charge along with charges of illegal possession of game, hunting after hours, hunting during closed season, supplemental feeding and illegal dumping.
‘There was no deer hung alive’
Carter and Fontenot claim the deer was already dead by the time it was hanged, calling the deer’s movement “deer nerves,” or residual nerve movement that occurs after death.
“There wasn’t no deer hung alive,” Fontenot said. “It ran into a fence and broke its neck, then was put down to end the suffering, and when it was hanging it kicked but due to it being hung (b)y its neck instead of it’s back legs.”
Fontenot said the video made what happened seem more “intense” than it actually was.
“In the video, you can see the deer tongue hanging out of its mouth and its eyes already closed therefore it was already dead and the evidence that the arresting officer took proves so,” Fontenot said.
Carter got backlash on Facebook after he posted the video. He followed up with another post saying, in part, “No, I did not hang a live deer.”
“The deer broke its neck trying to run through a fence and yes, I have a video of it doing so to prove that I tried to help it out and stand it up multiple times, then I went and got a high-power pellet rifle and shot it in the head, then drug it inside and hung it up.”
Video shows injured deer hanging
In video footage, the deer is lying on its side in a field after nightfall.
At least one other deer runs by the person shooting the video before the camera pans in on the injured deer.
Someone tries to move the deer to see if it can get up and move on its own.
“Come on, go” the person says, “Go.”
The deer can’t move its front legs, but its back legs start moving and the deer appears to be attempting to run while lying down.
“... You done killed yourself running into the fence,” one person is heard saying in the video.
The next thing that appears in the video is the live deer hanging in a garage.
For more than minute, the deer’s body flails about while hanging with a chain around its neck.
MDWF officers make arrests
When wildlife officers got to the home were the deer was hanged, MDWFP Major Chris Reed said, “they found that the deer had already been cleaned and put in a cooler.”
The officer arrested the two on the misdemeanor charges, and bonds were set at $5,000 each for both men.
The two are accused of hunting in a closed season because the deer died after hunting season ended Feb. 15.
A supplemental feed charge usually applies, Reed said, when someone doesn’t use approved deer feeders and likely dumps feed on the ground for the deer to gather around.
In addition, the state requires that hunting ends a half hour after sunset, and Fontenot and Carter are accused of violating that law by hunting over two hours after dusk.
Incidents like the one involving people who record and share footage of animal abuse is no longer uncommon in Mississippi, Reed said.
“In the last few years, we have seen more of these type incidents than we care to see from all over the state,” Reed said. “We see unspeakable acts of people just torturing the deer or (other animals) and all of that,” he said “We as wildlife officers and the sports men and women of the state try to ethically harvest animals, and people that do this type of thing give a bad image for those who do what’s right across the state.
Social media respond to deer video
Social media users expressed outrage after Carter posted the video recording of the hanging deer.
“You can’t sit here and expect anybody from around here to believe that you killed that deer with a high-powered pellet rifle before hanging it,” one resident wrote. “Any hunter knows the difference between a dead deer with ‘nerves’ and a deer that’s alive and trying to get free.”
Another users demanded that the video be taken down.
Chandler Scott of Jackson County was among those who watched the video.
“There was a lot of people that were upset,” Scott said. “A lot of people that hunt are upset because we know it’s isn’t right and it’s what makes hunters look bad.”
He called what happened “completely inhumane.”
“It isn’t right at all, and people should have more respect for animals,” Scott said. “I hunt, but would never do anything like that. It should be quick and as clean as possible.”
To report animal abuse, call your local law enforcement agency.
