Outrage grows over Pennsylvania deer-torture video as investigation continues

A video showing two teens torturing an injured deer has rocked a small Western Pennsylvania community while generating outrage far and wide, including online where nearly 600,000 people have signed a petition calling for criminal charges.

As of midday Wednesday, authorities had not charged the teens, who can be seen in the video laughing as they kick and stomp the wounded deer and remove one of its antlers while it was still alive. The video surfaced on social media Nov. 30.

“Anyone who sees this video is extremely upset. Everybody is totally upset by what the boys did and that they actually put it online,” said James D. Dennison, solicitor of Brookville, a town of nearly 4,000 people about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Dennison said local authorities quickly identified the teens in the video as being from the Brookville area and have cooperated with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which is investigating. The solicitor said he expects charges to be filed.

“The sooner, the better,” Dennison said.

Backlash has been swift. Families of both teens have received death threats, Dennison said. A Change.org petition calling for charges to be filed against the teens had been signed by 598,155 people as of late Wednesday.

“The outpouring of support for this defenseless animal shows animal cruelty is a concern for Pennsylvania,” said Kristen Tullo, Pennsylvania director of the Humane Society of the United States.

The Game Commission said in a Facebook post that its investigation remains active and state game wardens are continuing to work with state police and county law enforcement officials.

“Some of the loudest and most passionate messages have been from hunters across Pennsylvania and beyond who have strongly condemned the content of the video,” the Game Commission wrote. “As Pennsylvania’s state wildlife agency, we have said from the beginning that the actions shown in the video are reprehensible. The actions that the video appears to show do not represent ethical hunting practices or individuals who we would be proud to consider Pennsylvania hunters.”

Chip Brunst, information and education supervisor for the Game Commission’s Northwest office, said he recalled investigating just one other incident involving the abuse of wild animals in his 31 years on the job. The other case involved young people clubbing baby geese at a state game lands in Butler County in the 1990s, he said.

Brunst said times have changed a lot since then.

“It’s a different age,” Brunst said. “For an animal to be treated like that and to be recorded and to be posted online, there are so many facets that are brand-new to society.”

Nicole Wilson, director of humane law enforcement for the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Philadelphia, said the internet and social media have resulted in more reports of animal cruelty and documentation to go along with them.

“The attention for these cases has gone up,” Wilson said. “We’ve gone from a situation when almost no one knew what was happening to every other week seeing Facebook animal abuse emergencies.”

That has played a role in spurring state and federal lawmakers to enact stricter laws.

Pennsylvania’s animal cruelty laws were overhauled in 2017 to increase penalties for convicted abusers. Aggravated cruelty that causes serious injury or death became a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, while cruelty became a misdemeanor carrying a sentence of up to two years in jail.

The state law also provides strengthened protection for wild animals, Tullo said. Previously, abuses to wild animals and horses were summary offenses comparable to traffic violations, according to Tullo.

Federal laws also have been strengthened.

President Trump last month signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act into law. The legislation, sponsored in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, covers abuse occurring in interstate commerce or on federal property and cracks down on the sexual abuse of animals, The Associated Press reported. It also strengthens prosecution related to the crushing, burning or torture of animals. Previous federal law banned the sale or distribution of videos showing such abuse, but not the underlying conduct, according to the AP.