Dead deer with rope tied to their legs has Ministry of Natural Resources investigating

The odour hit Kaitlin Wharton as she approached the remains of the deer on Friday in a St. Catharines park, near the lakeshore.

The smell was the first thing that hit you," she said. It kind of hit you like a wall as you walked over. It was a terrible smell."

Wharton said her stepfather first made the grisly discovery at about 7 a.m. that day, and she went out a few hours later to investigate.

She said she was curious after watching a video posted on Facebook a day earlier by a boater, who found the remains of a deer floating in Lake Ontario - about one kilometre from shore off Port Dalhousie.

Wharton said that deer had a rope securely tied to one of its hooves, and its neck appeared to be broken - very similar to the deer she found at the shore.

Photos of the deceased deer Wharton posted on Facebook on Friday soon garnered hundreds of views, comments and shares from concerned people.

Lincoln County Humane Society executive director Kevin Strooband said the agency was called in to remove the remains of a deceased deer on a beach on Friday.

He said it's possible the remains Wharton found and the one in the Facebook video were the same animal.

Ministry spokeswoman Jolanta Kowalski said conservation officers have launched an investigation after being made aware of the incident during the weekend.

She said conservation officers are asking people who have any information that could assist with their investigation into this matter to contact the ministry's tips line at 1-877-847-7667.

Although Wharton, too, suspects the deer she found was the same one shown in the Facebook video, she said there were apparently a few other deer that met similar fates.

After posting photographs of the deer on Facebook, Wharton said she was contacted by Niagara Falls resident Omar Flores who told her he found the remains of three deer in the rapids of the Niagara Gorge a week earlier.

He said those deer also had rope tied around their legs.

They could have been the same deer," Flores said, adding the current in the river could have swept the deer out into Lake Ontario where Wharton later spotted one of them on shore.

But how the heck would anyone even try to trap any deer down there, and then throw them in the water for no reason?" Flores asked.

It was super bizarre," Wharton said. I don't know what's going on. It doesn't make any sense."

Allan Benner is a St. Catharines-based reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: allan.benner@niagaradailies.com