Deer Causes $80K Damage At Melbourne Funeral Home After 'Going Nuts'

A Melbourne funeral home was said to have looked like a “horrific crime scene” Thursday afternoon after a 250-kilogram feral deer crashed into the place and chased a worker into the chapel before “going nuts,” reports said.

The animal was said to have smashed a window before chasing a worker into the building, Managing Director James MacLeod of Tobin Brothers Funerals at Ringwood, Victoria, told ABC News.

MacLeod said that the animal was “going completely nuts” inside the chapel and smashed into furniture and walls, also injuring itself.

“It was bleeding and it’s like a horrific crime scene in here,” he said.

MacLeod mentioned that a funeral was scheduled to be held in the chapel on Thursday night but was relocated due to the damage caused by the rampage.

“The family were understanding but they didn’t quite believe it,” MacLeod said.

The damage has been estimated to be about $80,000 and the chapel has made alternative arrangements for upcoming funerals in the near future, MacLeod told BBC News.

“A staff member heard one of our glass doors smashing and got up from her desk and went to the door,” MacLeod told radio station 3AW.

“[She] went out, leaving the door open to see ... Turned around, it was a deer. It came charging at her and then charged in through the doorway into the chapel and then ran havoc here for the next 20 minutes.”

MacLeod said that the staff was able to lock the deer in a small room when it ran into the room.

“It took six rangers to carry the deer from our location,” he said. “I cannot believe the amount of damage that has just been done in 20 minutes. The facility, the carpet, walls, furniture. It just all needs to be replaced immediately. The damage is unbelievable,” he added. The animal had to be put down because of the injuries it had inflicted upon itself.

Fairfax Media reported recently that wild deer spotting in suburban Melbourne has been increasing. MacLeod told ABC News that the police told him the incident on Thursday involving a deer was a third in the past few days. A wild deer was spotted on Tuesday running beside cars along Ringwood bypass, near Ringwood Street in Victoria. The National Parks Association in Victoria has estimated the feral deer population to be at one million.

Similar incidents have occurred in the U.S. too. In May this year, a confused deer crashed a family's dinner by getting in through the open front door in their North Texas home, while chasing their pet dog. The owner, Jeff McKinney told Fox 4 News that the deer lay on the floor for a while and then managed to stand up and run out of the door.

“I kid you not. I was just about to take a bite. And right as I did, I heard this loud bang and crash,” McKinney told Fox 4 News at the time.
“Of course, we all naturally freaked out and jumped up,” he said. “And I see a deer in the middle of my living room.”

In December 2016, a teenager in Frederick, Maryland, shot and killed a deer, who had broken through the door and caused a lot of damage in the house. The teenager said he was scared for himself and his dog, who were the only ones present in the house then. He said he had called his father and 911 before he decided to shoot deer, USA Today reported at the time.