‘Deer burning’ video in B.C. triggers wave of outrage

Things are different in the country. I know that. Country people are less likely to anthropomorphize animals. They hunt them, slaughter them on farms. Circle of life and all that.

But how does a country boy rationalize dragging a deer behind his pickup truck with a chain and then setting it on fire?

That's what some goof apparently did near Dawson Creek, in the northeastern part of British Columbia. A video purporting to show the flaming deer was posted on Facebook this week by someone who witnessed the incident. Warning: video contains graphic content.

The post, which identifies the young man who reportedly did this, has draw the predictable backlash and exploded on Twitter.

On the video, the perpetrator explains what happened.

"This is a deer I just hit on the highway," he says, according to CBC News. "Drug [sic] it for a while. It's on fire now. Yeah. Deer be warned.

"Don't f--k with me," he says, laughing some more. "F--k, that deer's burning good."

It's not clear if the deer, if that's what it is, was dead when this guy decided to amuse himself with it.

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The Facebook post triggered a wave of complaints to the RCMP and the local SPCA.

But the Globe and Mail reports the police are washing their hands of it.

“What occurred on that video, at this time, does not appear to be Criminal Code in nature and that’s why we partnered with the B.C. Conservation office, and the SPCA," said Constable Lesley Smith of the RCMP’s North District. "We felt it was in their jurisdiction under the Wildlife Act."

Sgt. Shawn Brinsky, a South Peace conservation officer, told the Dawson Creek Daily News his office was looking into the video.

"It's still extremely early in the investigation," he said, adding the incident may have violated the Wildlife Act because people can only possess wildlife – living or dead – with a proper permit.

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Those who weighed in on Facebook mostly were appalled by what the video depicted.

"It's the behavior of a disturbed person to consciously drag an animal dead or alive, burn, video tape it, mock, and broadcast/brag about it," Scott Archer commented (though someone else recorded and posted the video). "This is sort of person who ends up killing people later in life, then everyone says "why wasn't he stopped earlier?"

Commenter Payden Hingley was a little less moved.

"Chill out, it's already dead," says Hingley, who complains the others "are all beaking someone I know and like."