Police officers reveal why they had to kill rare white stag roaming residential streets

Merseyside Police said officers were ‘gutted’ to have to shoot dead the rare white stag seen running through Bootle over the weekend.

The animal was spotted by bemused residents on Sunday (September 26th) at a number of different locations across the town, with social media being inundated with photos and videos of the bizarre spectacle.

Amid concerns for the stag’s safety, armed police were called out to assist with the situation; they managed to corner the stag in an industrial estate along with the help of a vet who attended the scene to monitor the animal’s welfare.

However, after nine hours of unsuccessfully trying to apprehend the animal, officers made the informed decision to shoot the deer in the early evening. 

Merseyside Police have now defended its decision to kill the animal, which was met with a wave of backlash by residents who branded the move as ‘disgusting’.

The force posted a statement saying it had to put the public at ‘the heart of the decision-making’, with DCC Ian Critchley stressing that while he respects that people will have different views, every effort was made to save and relocate the deer.

He said: “All the officers at the scene were absolutely gutted at having to shoot the animal. The officers had been engaged for nine hours at the incident and had been actively trying to capture the deer for more than five hours so were totally committed to relocating the animal.

“However, we had to ensure that a distressed deer did not present any danger to public safety.”

The RSPCA also issued a statement following the unfortunate incident, saying they had instructed the police to ‘leave it alone’ and that ‘it would find its own way back’.

However, the animal charity did add: “In cases such as this where public safety is a consideration it is a matter for the police to deal with.

“It is possible that the deer could be sedated and moved to a place of safety to be released, but this needs to be done with caution in a public area such as this one, as the deer could startle and run when hit by the dart which could create a bigger public safety issue.”