Cleaning Lady Fed Herd Of Tame Deer, Violated State Conservation Law
POSTED: 11:41 a.m. EDT May 7, 2003
UPDATED: 11:47 a.m. EDT May 7, 2003
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. -- A western New York woman won't go to jail for feeding deer -- unless it happens again.
Anita Depczynski was charged with violating the state conservation law by feeding a herd of tame deer at a suburban Buffalo park.
The 62-year-old cleaning lady was granted a conditional discharge Tuesday. But the judge told her she could face a jail sentence if she's caught feeding the deer again.
She could have faced up to 15 days in jail and a $250 fine.
She said she fed the deer because the animals are so tame, and the area so congested by development, that they would starve in winter without human handouts.
But she told the judge she would comply with the law.