Penticton woman walking her dog rescued from aggressive deer encounter

PENTICTON – A Penticton woman who had an unnerving experience with a deer has some words of caution for those using the walking paths in the Vancouver Hill area.

Adrienne Kavanagh was walking her German shepherd on Cambie Street yesterday morning, June 3, when she heard some rustling in some nearby shrubbery and turned to look.

“I saw a deer heading towards me and my dog. It was basically coming right at me, hoofs in the air, in full attack mode,” she says.

Her dog began barking and growling, while Kavanagh says she began “screaming at the top of my lungs,” but the deer refused to back off.

She backed up into a neighbour’s unfenced yard where she managed to separate her and her dog from the deer by getting behind a vehicle in the driveway, blocking the deer’s attack. She was trapped, however, unable to move because every time she did, the deer would follow.

“It was ready to run around the car to get me.”

The neighbour heard the commotion and opened the front door of her residence, but Kavanagh still couldn’t retreat. It was only after another neighbour came out and made some loud ‘scratchy’ noises, the deer backed off.

“Somehow the other neighbour was able to keep the deer back, and I was able to get my dog and myself in his car,” Kavanagh says. The neighbour drove her back to her residence.

“It was lucky it was just me, but I think about kids and the elderly walking their dogs. I would hate to see animals getting killed or innocent kids and dogs getting hurt or trampled.”

She reported the incident to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.

Kavanagh says the Kettle Valley Rail Trail that cuts across Cambie Street area is a popular walking trail that is also surrounded by perfect deer habitat and caution should be exercised over the next three to four weeks while fawning season is taking place.

“They can be well hidden. If I had been walking with headphones, I wouldn’t have heard the animal coming out of the bush,” she says. “It might be a good idea to find alternative routes to walk for the next few weeks. I’m sure there are multiple momma deer up there.”

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