75 Year-Old Ohio Woman Accused of Beating Fawn to Death

EUCLID, Ohio — An Ohio woman who found a fawn in her flower garden has been accused of beating it to death with a shovel. Dorothy Richardson, 75, was charged in a warrant with animal cruelty at her Euclid home near the Cleveland Metroparks Euclid Creek Reservation, a wooded park where deer, foxes and other wildlife roam.

Animal control officer Ann Mills requested the warrant. She said "everybody's very upset" about the fawn's June 15 death.

Richardson hasn't appeared in court. She told Cleveland's WKYC-TV she was afraid of the fawn and used a shovel to try to make it move. She said after it died she put it in a box and took it to the curb on trash day.

Euclid's cruelty to animals charge is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com

Comments

[DeeW]

While this sounds awful in a quick read - I'd like to know more details about the woman's stability before passing judgment. I mean she's 75. Who knows what was going thru her mind.

[rf dude]

YEAH! You GO, girl!

Hey, you any good with a club ma'am? Seal season is just starting...
--

[henrypapillon]

I think it was choking on a strawberry and she was trying to clear its throat.Let Grandma go !!!!

[CherrySpring]

lol, oh gawd. I don't know why the imagery of that statement gave me such a good giggle, but I'm pretty sure there's a descending hand basket waiting for me somewhere...

[toxicbrainpoison]

a shovel is cruel and unusual but a gun with a federal permit is fine...

[DeeW]

just like clubbing a baby seal gets the wrath of the world but slaughter houses are okay. People are weird about this stuff.

[Harry Tuttle]

Let's beat your dog to d.eath with a shovel and see how weird you get.

[Michael Albright]

Maybe she has lyme disease and is seeking revenge against the deer population that carries the ticks.

[StrangeAngel]

Or maybe she's just a vicious cretin.

[dst1]

second

[jakk]

Third.

[Janet Barnes]

When are we going to pass sensible legislation concerning shovels? Why wasn't there a ten day waiting period?

I hate it when shovels turn mild mannered people into maniacs. Damn those shovels. They have no place in modern society.

[mlr710]

Here we go, crying over a dead deer and decrying this woman as the wicked witch of the east. Yeah, ok.

[Eric8]

Every fall thousands of hunters walk into the woods and eliminate deer with a variety of crude man-made tools. This is to some even considered a sport. But a woman does this out of context and there is outrage. She shouldn't have done it, but neither should people be legally allowed to do it every fall. Where is the outrage for this? Or about the ways are military is also eliminating other sentient beings. I guess are so called western values are nothing but "contexts", which bypass ethics yet simultaneously sustain the absurdity of them...

[slaxx]

you are right about context. the difference is she did this out of "cruelty," not hunting or sport or food.

i think she just didn't want them on her yard or eating her flowers anymore.

[BlackYowe]

Very good point.

[dartagnan]

Given a choice between being shot to death with a rifle and bludgeoned to death with a shovel, I'd take the former.

[callmeslice23]

Deer overpopulation is actually a very serious problem in Ohio.

I support hunting seasonally. It's a lot better than letting them starve to death.

[Mickey7]

Which may be true, but doesn't pertain to this situation at all. I doubt it's legal to 'hunt' fawns in any state (maybe Alaska is the exception--you might actually collect a bounty if you bring in their front legs there) with either a shovel or a gun and she was thinning a 'herd' of one. Let's hope dementia was the underlying problem here, because just plain old cruelty is as unforgivable as it gets.

[dengal]

too bad most of their natural predators have been killed off

[Prakosh]

Wrong! It's not deer over-population that is the problem it's the population explosion of Mankind that is the problem. People in places that have bear and wildcats make the same claim. They are coming into our ares now--who is building houses in the mountains and places which these animals have traditionally called home? Its mankind, not the animals that are taking over the territory.

[jakk]

I think the reason a lot of non-hunters support hunting, but are simultaneously horrified by the action of this woman, is that most non-hunters aren't out there in the field seeing what's actually done to the animals by less-than-proficient hunters. I work in a profession where I've seen my share of hunts and the injuries inflicted on animals who aren't killed right away. Sure, there are ethical, responsible hunters who won't a shot unless they know it will kill. But the real picture of hunting ain't the neat and tidy version hunters and hunters groups would have you think -- just as slaughterhouses aren't the happy family farm. An adult deer with a poorly place arrow in its neck, for example, dies a long, brutal, painful, and bloody death. It's a torture equal to being beaten to death by a shovel. It's just that an act of malice with a shovel isn't as easily rationalized away as a legal sport.

[slaxx]

i doubt my physical ability to be able to beat a fawn to de.ath using a shovel. she must've really went after the little guy. and i doubt she used a shovel.

[Feanor]

I don't think you realize how little and fragile they are.

[csmcmillion]

and how good they taste.

[Fever911]

She's proud of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oln_OBNUqAQ

[slaxx]

and she has a statue of jesus on her lawn. priceless.

[gaja]

that is disturbing... people need education and real penalties for animal cruelty.

[UncleSpam]

Unfortunately police have not been able to identify the deer, so they are simply referring to it as a 1 year old "fawn doe."

Wocka, wocka, wocka

[hopefull2008]

"Fawn" .. can she type ?

[napasonoma]

Greatest cover photo ever !

[jennytaylia]

From what I understand this was an African-American woman. I know a number of them, much younger than her, who are unbelievably scared of animals of all kinds. A good friend of mine was absolutely terrified when I found a kitten in our parking deck and brought it into the office. I don't in any way approve of what this woman did... but when people are traumatized at an early age by a bad experience with an animal--or if the parent(s) taught them to be that way--it's very hard to get past.

Still... it was a fawn. Geesh.

[Happylib]

"I know a number of them" === If you hear these words coming out of your mouth: shut up, turn around and walk away. I am sorry to report Jenny but you are speaking in offensive terms. Even if you have a point it is lost in all of the uncomfortable "them" speak. I would not speak on these topics for a while.

[NedroidPrime]

Wow, oversensitive much? "Them" is a common English word, typically used when the subject has already been identified, and you are speaking of multiple individuals.

Seriously, you might want to think before you get offended. It will make your social life much better :)

[slaxx]

she was saying " a number of them who are scared of animals." it wasn't a blanket stereotype or "them" in an offensive way imo.

[CR46]

If she was afraid she would not have gone near it and would have called animal control. There is no excuse for this behavior AT ALL!!

[Vickster]

Not necessarily. Maybe she nudged the fawn with the shovel first. Then when it didn't react like a healthy animal would, she decided it was best to kill the fawn in case it was rabid.

Or maybe she was just pissed off at all the deer eating her flowers. If that's the case, then I suggest she apply a hot pepper spray after every rain. Not that she won't lose a few blooms, but once deer realize the browse in her yard sucks they'll usually avoid it for a month or two.

[BlackYowe]

I watched a video of the women and she seemed a little slow or something. She could have the beginnings of Alzheimer's . I think she was mixed up when she did that to the fawn.

[liarsclub75]

She could be a danger to the neighborhood kids.

[bowthai]

What? What does her being African American have anything to do with this? I'm glad you know many of 'them' and I'm sorry to hear that they have had traumatic animal experiences. But black people are pet owners and animal lovers just like anyone else. If this particular black woman had a bad experience as a child, then that's her issue. I don't see how you can spin such a broad statement out of it.

[2626Jump]

Very, very racist statement.

[2626Jump]

It is Obama's fault.
He is making bullets way to expensive.

[AdV2k1]

he's done nothing of the sort. NOTHING has changed except for paranoia on the right wing NRA crazies

[Tex1969]

I am guessing you have been charged with some type of assault in your lifetime.
There are countless studies that link sociopathic behavior of that sort with animal abuse and/or cruelty. I have seen your sick, glib responses at other posts regarding the treatment of animals.
You should really get some help before you end up in prison.

[2626Jump]

DO NOT EAT THIS LADIES FLOWERS!

lots of over reaction here.
That was expected.

[MamaBird62]

Dementia

Hope her family gets her the help she needs.

[nu primitive]

Maybe she's just a mean old woman.