Provincial Veterinarian Decides These Orphans Can Be in the Movies

Orphaned Fawns Rescued in Roberts Creek

Sophie Woodrooffe, Coast Reporter

MAY 29, 2020 06:00 AM

Two orphaned fawns were rescued from a waterfront property in Roberts Creek on May 20.

Two fawns have been rescued from a waterfront property in Roberts Creek after a cougar killed their mother.

A doe and stag had been living on the property for some time, and the resident noticed the fawns were born the week of May 11. A cougar killed the doe the morning of May 19.

“We responded and found the two little fawns in the bush, hiding as they do,” said Sgt. Dean Miller of the Conservation Officer Service (COS).

It’s normal for does to leave their fawns for up to 12 hours while foraging elsewhere. “Of course we knew what happened to the doe, so we captured them and contacted a regional biologist,” said Miller.
This isn’t the first cougar conflict in Roberts Creek this spring.

A cougar also killed a dog last month near the heart of Roberts Creek along Beach Avenue.

At the time, the COS advised the public to take extra precautions. But because of the increased frequency of sightings and the fact that the cougar was being seen far from the forest, the COS brought hounds into the community to locate what they believed was a large male cat.

Separate people observed the cougar in the area on two occasions the morning of May 20.

The cougar was not located by the hounds, but because conservation officers removed the deer corpse and took away the fawns, they expect the cougar to move on.

“That area is a corridor for wildlife and a sample of the food chain. You do have the prey species eating non-native plant species and then the predators follow,” Miller said.

As for the fawns, they will spend their life with Beyond Bears, a specialized animal training company based in Abbotsford.

Owner Mark Dumas said the fawns will be trained for film and television. The company’s credits include Cold Pursuit with actor Liam Neeson and Seventh Son with Jeff Bridges.

“You build an incredible bond with these animals,” Dumas said.

May to June is fawning season, and Miller said it’s normal for fawns to be observed alone without an adult deer.


The Province of British Columbia currently only permits one accredited wildlife rehabilitation centres to rewild orphan fawns.  Deer cannot be kept on private property or given to wildlife rehabilitation centres without a permit, yet these two were permitted to go to an individual who will keep them until a movie production company would (possibly) like to use them. With current CGI technology animals in film are increasingly uneeded.

This is all you will see on the Beyond Bears website:

What made the provincial veterinarian agree (on the advice of a "regional biologist" yet to be named) to send these two fawns to an Abbotsford back yard where they will lanquish in hopes that a Hollywood production might need them? That's right, they've been sent to Mark Dumas' back yard.

BC wildlife is in grave danger from the very people most British Columbians believe act in their best interest.

UPDATE: the fawns have been removed from Mark Dumas' possession and have been sent to Critter Care wildlife rescue in Abbotsford.